Team Coral
by Kestralheart
Summary: Jaune Arc decided he wanted to become to be a Hunter at the age of twelve-and-a-half. When he turns thirteen, however, something happens to his twin sister, Coral, that forces him to use his semblance. At seventeen, Jaune and Coral Arc join Beacon Academy to become professional Hunters so they can make sure no one has to go through what they did.
1. Hero

Chapter 1

Jaune Arc was always weak. Even when he was younger he always fell back to his sisters for help, even his younger ones. Maybe it was just the way his body was, or maybe lack of motivation. This, however, proved very unfortunate for him come twelve-and-a-half, when he finally decided what he wanted to do in life.

Become a hero.

More specifically, a Hunter. He actually wanted to become a hero, like his father, from a lot younger age, probably due to fantasy books his older sisters would read to him at night. Back then though he thought being a hero was something cliché, like saving a princess by kissing her while she sleeps. Yeah… that didn't turn out well. Of course, even after he grew out of that stage, he never even dreamed of being a hunter. It wasn't until his mother and father sat him down in the living room for a "talk."

"Am I in trouble? I swear that was Hazel, not me!" The twelve and half Jaune asked with a small frown on his face.

"No, of course not. Wait what, never mind that can wait till later." The older man, probably in his forties replied. "We just brought you in here because we would like to know what plans you have for the future."

"Plans…"

"He means like a profession, something where you can make a steady income and get married and have a nice family and such." It was his mum this time, talking about things he hadn't even given any thoughts about.

A profession. This was one of those questions they ask you in school, like "What do you want to be when you grow up?" or "Where do you see yourself later in life?" He remembered some of those questions, though not the answers.

 _I probably said I want to be a hero._

"I want to be… a hero… like Dad! A Hunter!"

"Now son, there are plenty of other well-paying professions out there that would not require you to put your life in danger like that.

"But, you're a Hunter…"

"What your father is saying is we don't want you to become a Hunter. This is the reason we called you here." Juniper Arc said quite seriously. It was never a good sign when she called his dad "father" in speech. It was like calling him Nicholas, or something like that.

But, not a Hunter, why? It was true that it was a dangerous job, but it was very noble, very… heroic. It had an appealing affect to it. Living on the edge, fighting off bad guys, saving girls in need. And guys too, of course.

"Bu-"

"We are not going to let you become a Hunter and that's that." His father cut him off with a threatening roar.

He was fighting off tears at this point. It was always his dream to become a hero. And now, when he was asked, when he felt most passionate about his dream, it was crushed. He wasn't sure why he felt so passionate about it now. It was like he had a revelation, a premonition even. He saw it in his mind, Jaune Arc the Hunter, slayer of Grimm and protector of the innocent. He saw himself fighting, enlarging Crocea Mors to block claws that threatened to grind him to a pulp, and then strongly thrusting the generations old longsword into to an Ursa Major. He ran out of his parent's room.

He burst open the door to his room, not even noticing his twin sister in the hall who was eavesdropping. He lied down on his bed, clenching his fists hard enough to draw blood. Tears that overpowered his self-control flowed out from his azure eyes and onto the tip of his chin, before letting gravity dampen his sheets. He still wasn't completely sure why he was upset, why he was crying. He had never been this upset about wanting to become a hero before, of course, no one ever explicitly said to give up on his dream either.

Knock. Knock. It was his twin sister, younger by twelve minutes, at this time, who came to comfort him.

"Jaune, are you in there? Can I come in? I-I heard your conversation with mum and dad. Can I talk to you?"

"Go away Coral"

"Jaune? Just let me in. P-please?"

There was no response. 30 seconds went by, and then a minute. He heard the faint jiggling of the doorknob, Coral trying very hard to be as quiet as possible.

"If you gonna be like that just come in." He said calmly, having finally gained his composure. The tears had dried up on the side of his face and the dryness of his throat had cleared up.

Coral gasped a bit, perhaps surprised that he finally decided to talk, but didn't respond or even hesitate to open the door. She tiptoed in and saw him curled up in a ball, handsome blond hair draped over his face, shaking a bit with a darkness over his eyes. It seemed his voice had returned to normal, but his body still was shaken up. She walked closer, and then gently placed her hand on his face. He flinched a bit when Coral touched him, almost as if he was seizing.

"Hey. You okay?" she spoke softly, at the same time brushing his hair from his face.

He sat up. His hair covered his eyes once more with slow wet tears trickling down below the strands. The first one threatened to fall, but Coral caressed his face with her thumb, wiping the tear away.

"Hey Coral, have you ever thought about running away from home?" he said, his voice crackling a bit, finally deciding to acknowledge her.

Her eyes widened at this. The shock finding its way to her. She strongly pulled him into her embrace.

"No! Y-you can't leave. I won't let you." Her voice lowering in volume at the end perhaps realizing that the others might hear them, though not even answering the question.

His eyes also widened a bit behind her. He suddenly felt very sad, depressed. Not anger, or dissatisfaction like before, but just plain sorrow. It was because he could hear the worry in her voice, feel her tears on the nape of his neck, and all he could feel was sadness.


	2. Chapter 2

**Just so there's no complications, Jaune's family are Couer Al'Aran's creations. I've asked permission and everything.;)**

 **On to the next chapter!**

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Chapter 2

"Thank you Coral. I feel a lot better now. And… don't worry, I'm not gonna run away. Not if I have to leave you anyway." Jaune could safely say that Coral was his favorite sibling, favorite person even. She was always there for him, if right now was a testament to anything, and she cared a lot more than anyone else, even his parents. At least, that's the way it felt. He never had many friends. Any to be exact. It wasn't that he wasn't nice or good looking, but every time he looked at some peer of his he just never had the courage to go up and talk to them. The same happened the other way around, he would be approached with some kind words, but he always would end up alone by the end of the day, whether it was because of his own words and awkwardness or by his sisters' over-protectiveness. He didn't really mind though, his sisters were always nice and even if they didn't all hang out with him, Coral always did.

Coral.

"Thank you Jaune. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have a great big hero to put in my story!" She was smiling. Always so beautiful. Her words were always kind and heartfelt, even if she could be a little weird sometimes.

"Oh that won't be a story for much longer. I'll get stronger. Just you watch, I'm gonna apply for Signal."

-/-

"Damn it! Damn it! Why does fate have to be so cruel?"

"I'm sorry Jaune, I thought for sure you would get in."

"It's not your fault Coral. It's mine. It's my fault for deciding I wanted to be a hunter too damn late. I trained my hardest, but what can you really do in just six months. Not to mention the fact that Dad refused to train me." Jaune slammed his fist against the tree. He worked grueling nights and days, honing his body, building up muscle. All so he could get into Signal. So he could become a Hunter.

The Signal exams were difficult to say the least. He did alright on the history section, but once he got to the practical part of the exams, he just couldn't do it. He became strong enough during the six months, but it just wasn't enough to make up for his lack of experience swinging a sword. After all, there was no way his father would let him anywhere near Crocea Mors and every time he got his hands on a wooden one, his parents would just confiscate it. When his turn came around, and they asked him to choose a weapon, he chose a wooden sword and shield.

He obviously didn't have any experience with it, but he knew from the moment he dreamt up this dream that he wanted to be a typical knight in shining armor. For whatever reason. Maybe it was the fairytales he grew up on, he didn't know. But when the spar between him and another girl came along, he couldn't keep up. Her name was Yang… was it? Whatever it didn't matter. He lost. It was even more embarrassing that she beat him with her bare hands.

He felt even worse because of Coral. She had helped him prepare for this. She would come up with a training regimen for him, she would prepare homemade meals for him with lots of protein and everything, and she would even give him motivational speeches. The speeches were the worst. At least now. At the time he loved them, as they actually did encourage him to push himself harder, but now they bittered the defeat he just suffered.

"Jaune, don't give up." Coral tried sorrowfully.

"What do you mean don't give up? I mean, what am I gonna do now. I'll never become a Hunter." Coral flinched, taken aback by his pessimistic attitude. He noticed too. "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for."

"No, it's fine. And don't apologize. It's fine. But don't give up, cause if you work really hard then maybe you can get into Atlas Academy o-or maybe even Beacon!"

"But what can I do in four years? I mean, all the other students will have 4 years of _actual_ combat training."

"I guess that's true, but I've been reading up on aura and semblances."

"What will that do?"

"Well, according to this book I read you can unlock someone's aura by chanting some spell. And aura also makes you stronger!"

"I guess it's worth a shot. Alright, give it a go." She took a deep breath before turning to face him directly in the eyes and then placed her hand on his shoulder, feeling him tense under her strong grip and warm touch.

 _"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee"_

Jaune felt… strong. He could feel the energy coursing through his body. He looked at his arm, only to see the cut he received from a local bully had disappeared, before focusing back on Coral. She was smiling. And then she was falling.

"Coral! Oh God. HELP! Somebody call an ambulance!" He caught her before she hit the ground and instantly felt the vein on her neck.

 _Okay. She's okay. She's still breathing._

Jaune picked her up, carrying her bridal style, not even feeling her weight. Whether that was because of his aura or simply the adrenaline rush he didn't know, or care, for that matter.

He ran through the forest that had become their private spot for matters like these. He could feel his heart pounding. Something like this had never happened before. Something where someone he loved had been injured. Not even his dad had ever come back with anything more than a couple of bruises or shallow wounds, nothing major. He wasn't sure if this was major or not, he didn't know much about aura at all to be honest. But the fact that she was unconscious worried him to no end.

 _Damn it! I should never have let her unlock my aura without doing more research._

He ran through the trees, cradling her in his arms, running head first into branches even. It didn't even hurt. He didn't even realize that he had started to cry; tears were dripping out of his eyes, falling back onto the muddy ground as he sped ahead. Some landed on her face and he couldn't help but think how pretty she was. Lustrous blonde hair, free flowing with a well-proportioned body and a cute face. And he knew how pretty her eyes were, even if he couldn't see them right now, he knew. They were also blue, like his, but were softer and of a lighter shade, from their mother.

He rushed out of the woods and appeared on the south side of Ansel, as he was not aware of which direction he had been running, and called out.

"Does anybody know a doctor? My sister needs medical attention!" He shouted loudly, screamed even.

Multiple houses curtains were pushed aside. He just stood there, in the middle of the street frantically looking around for anyone who would come to help. He saw lots of people peek out there windows, as if they weren't sure of what to do.

"Anybody. He-"

"Bring her in here, I'm not a doctor but I practiced field medicine when I was in the military." It was an old man who cut him off, perhaps in his late thirties or early forties, to invite him into his house. He looked like your typical average citizen did, a little rugged and about 6'3'', and wore a t-shirt along with a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved jacket. Jaune didn't even hesitate to rush toward the voice.

"Do you think you can help her? We were in the forest where she just fell unconscious." Jaune rushed through the open door and set her on a table in the living room where the man had cleared some papers off of with a swipe of a hand.

"I can try and diagnose what the problem is, the name's Mack by the way." The older man replied.

"Jaune. And thanks for all the help by the way." He brought up a chair and placed next to Coral and sat down. He clasped her right hand with both of his and closed his eyes, praying. Not that he really even believed in God, but he sure as hell hoped that if there was a God, he would help her.

So he sat there, wallowing in guilt, watching as the Mack took her pulse. He knew it was his fault. He'd hurt his sister. Even if it had been unintentional.

"Grab me that flashlight will ya? It's in that room over there, should be on the desk."

Jaune nodded, and stood up. He walked over to the room that Mack had nodded his head to, opening the door and walking inside…

"I don't see the flashlight, or the desk. Are you sure th-" He spun around and his jaw fell in horror. He had been locked in. In a room with no windows either, just one exit, and it had been locked. And barred as he figured out as he threw himself as hard as he could against the wooden door.

"AHH, don't touch CORAL!" Jaune screamed at the top of his lungs. How could he have so foolish? He left an adult alone with Coral, even if it had just been for a second. How could he even believe the man was ex-military? How could he believe he was even proficient in medicine? Why would he need a fucking flashlight anyway, it's the middle of the fuckin' day!

Jaune screamed again. Even louder this time. There was no response. He could only imagine what horrible things that thirteen year old Coral was enduring right now. What was it all for? Rape? Ransom? It was all so frustrating. And all his fault.

The worst part of all, was that he could do nothing. He just had to sit here while his own twin was used up and spit out. It was devouring him. The guilt, that is. Knowing that it was his fault, with which his own twin sister will probably die! And she was trying to help him. Trying to help him become a hero. If this was anything else he would burst out laughing. Ah, the irony.

He looked around the room, searching for anything that could be used to break open the door, and if he couldn't find something for that, he would look for something to take his own life. After all, a life without his dear sister wouldn't even be worth living. Or maybe, it was a life where he was the cause of it all.

He had been locked in this room for hours and there was nothing that could break him out. Just a couple of chairs and a bunch of empty boxes. Nothing.

"Coral, I am so sorry." He wept. For the second time today he shed tears. And then something hit him. Something triggered.

Jaune rose from his position on the floor and walked towards the barred door… and opened it. Or rather, he blew it away. The wooden door broke from its hinges and flew towards the window, shattering it and sending both the door itself and millions of sharp and rigid glass shards out and onto the grassy backyard.

"The hell?" Mack turned around, carrying the knife that had no doubt been used for some sick game he was playing with Coral, and lunged. Straight at Jaune. The knife inched closer as Jaune turned to face his assailant. Mack was grinning. In a sick, twisted, and infernal way. It was like he was enjoying this. Actually there was no doubt that he was enjoying this. Jaune hated him. He had never really hated anyone before, but he hated this man.

So Jaune smiled back.

The knife, just centimeters away from Jaune, recoiled. It simply bounced off. Something flickered around Jaune, like an invisible white forcefield. Mack was taken aback as if he struck a brick wall and no doubt had some sort of injury from the force he applied. He cursed once more.

Jaune was still smiling as he walked towards the other man.

"So, you got some tricks up your sleeve. Damn you! Guess I got no choice." Mack fled. Or, at least that was what Jaune thought as he headed for the door. But Mack didn't flee. He stopped just a few feet from the where Coral lay and held the knife out. Right over her heart. Her loving, pure, carefree heart.

"Don't move or I swear I will kill her!" Mack screamed. He was panicking and shaking all over. But if provoked, there was no doubt he would do it.

Jaune's smile fell.

He was worried now. Even with his new profound power Coral was helpless, and there was nothing he could do to prevent her heart from being pierced. Except negotiate.

"What is it that you want in exchange for my sister's life?" It was Jaune who spoke this time, with not a hint of fear or nervousness. But inside, he was as nervous as hell. He was mentally having a panic attack, trying to move the knife with just willpower alone. It wasn't working.

"Oh, I dunno? Even if I give you this bitch back, the police will just come after me and I'll be in deep shit th-" Mack was cut off. He fell forward, like it was a force from behind, onto Coral. The man's knife fell onto Coral, but the lack of force did not allow the tip to pierce her skin. Jaune ran up to the man, who was now on the floor, and felt his pulse. He was alive, but knocked unconscious.

He immediately turned his attention to Coral. She looked horrible. Her sundress that was radiant earlier that day was now almost torn to shreds, revealing most of her body. Her undergarments were still intact, though there were small cuts all over her pale skin, no doubt from the knife that had threatened to kill her.

The knife was laying right above her left breast, soiled in darling Coral's own blood. Jaune reached his hand over and grasped the handle and felt how the blade felt in his hands, before turning his attention to the unconscious man lying on the floor.

"This is for Coral you son of a-"

"Jaune." Coral cut him off and Jaune paused, instantly. He lost his grip and let the knife fall to the ground, letting of a slight clang, but that didn't break the eye contact that the blond twins had been holding.

"Coral." There was worry in his voice, but the relief was unmistakable.

"Don't do it. He's not worth it."

"But Coral he could have kil-" Her sky blue eyes were enough to cut him off. And so he obeyed. He slipped his left hand under her legs and the other under her upper back and held her in his arms.

"You are a hero. You're my hero." She spoke with a smile as she used what little strength she had to lean up a little bit, and lightly kiss him on his left cheek.

Jaune smiled.

He turned towards his right where the window he broke had been and tried to find his—and her-savior. There was a figure far off in the distance. A shadow in front of the blazing sun, too far off to see the more intricate details. All he could make out was a billowing cloak and a… scythe?

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 **Thanks for reading! Don't forget to leave a review if you enjoyed!;)**


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter 3_

 _I wonder who that scythe guy was?_

 _Why am I at Signal?_

 _Is Coral okay?_

Thoughts were flowing through thirteen-year-old Jaune Arc's mind as he sat in a metal chair in a white interrogation-like room. The chair clanged against the ground as he pulled himself closer to the lone table in the center of the room.

 _Am I going to be interrogated?_

"Can someone let me out of here, I need to know if my sister is okay."

The single entrance to the room opened with a creek, revealing a tall man with messy black hair wearing what appeared like a Signal teacher uniform with a crooked cross hanging around his neck.

"The names Qrow, I'm a teacher here at Signal Academy." The man named Qrow spoke in a raspy voice.

"I'm Jaune, Jaune Arc. Can you let me see my sister now please?"

"Don't worry Jaune, your sister's fine. An ambulance picked her up and took to Vale's best hospital."

"Okay, when can I see her?"

"Whenever we're done here."

"Okay then. Can you tell me why I'm at Signal?"

"You're here because I saw what you did over in south Ansel?"

"So you're the scythe guy and… why are you drinking in front of me? Aren't there rules against that?"

"Wha… oh no. I'm only a part-time teacher. I'm not even on duty right now. I'm just here to watch my niece pass the exams."

"So why were you in Ansel then?"

"Ah, you know how it is. There's always better booze in the country bits. That crap in Vale is too refined. Anyway, the point is we want you to come train at Signal. I know you failed the exams, but you didn't have aura then so it was a bit unfair."

"You want me to…. come to Signal?"

"That's right. By the way, how did you unlock your aura?" Jaune winced at that. It reminded him of what happened earlier that day, how Coral fell unconscious, and then…

"Hey kid, you okay?"

"What, yeah I'm fine. My sister unlocked it for me."

"That explains it. Explains why all the citizens say you were screaming for a doctor and how come I had to shoot a civilian just to save your ass."

"Thanks… for that by the way. If it weren't for you then we might be dead."

"Yea… no problem kid. Do you accept the offer?"

"Yeah, of course I accept. Though I want to go visit Coral right now. By the way did you call my parents yet?"

"No, I didn't call 'em, though you're gonna have to explain it eventually. And you can visit sis now. One thing though…"

"Hm."

Qrow let out a deep sigh. "Your sister almost died." Jaune's eyes widened in shock. "Actually she would be dead… if we hadn't unlocked her aura." Jaune almost fainted, literally. He couldn't believe it. The same thing that almost killed them both, also saved Coral's life. It's a bit ironic. And it was all his fault. He wasn't dumb. He knew once you unlock aura, your only path was a Hunter. Aura naturally attracts Grimm. That was why he was fine with Coral unlocking his. But now, with hers unlocked, she would have to take the path of a Hunter. All because of his stupid dream. He cursed under his breath.

"Take me to her."

-/-

"Her body was incredibly fatigued by the time we got her to the ambulance, due to her activating your aura without her having her own, not to mention she has dozens of small cuts on her body, and quite a few bruises. To be honest, she should be in a lot worse condition. We still had to unlock her aura, but she suffered a concussion which _should_ have knocked her out long before she was under our care. We believe this is because of your semblance. We are still unsure of what it is, but we think it might be some sort of healing ability. She's sleeping right now, but you may wait for her there if you would like to." The nurse explained. Jaune was a bit confused. Semblance? He wasn't really sure what semblance was exactly, but he knew it was unique for each person. His was healing? No, he blew that door open so it couldn't be a purely support one.

"I would, thank you."

The nurse nodded and waved for him to follow. She led him through the corridors and to the room that Coral was resting in. He swung open the door and tiptoed into the room labeled "Room 203" quietly, not wanting to wake her, and slowly closed the door behind him.

He was feeling it again. The guilt was building up again now that he saw her. She was lying there, sleeping peacefully, even smiling at that. And all he could do was sit next to her in guilt. She was so nice, all she wanted to do was make him happy, and yet all he ever did was hurt her. He didn't want to, but it happened. It was like that one time when they were younger and he was getting beaten around by some upperclassmen and she stepped in, the twelve minute younger sister, and told them off. It cost her a black eye that lasted for a month. This was just like that except on a much larger scale. She wanted to help him with some problem he was having, and she succeeds but pays the price. She's always the one who pays the price. He wanted to pay the price. He wanted to be the one to save her.

 _And you did save her._

No, he didn't. He rushed recklessly into a situation and had to get saved by a _professional_ huntsman! If Qrow hadn't come along, Coral would be dead. He would be dead. He was useless. No, he was worse than useless. He was a burden. And now she was thrown into the fray.

"I'm so sorry Coral." Jaune held her left hand in his own. "I'm so sorry." He fluttered his eyes, trying to hold back the incoming tears. And he was successful. Barely. He didn't wanna cry thrice in one day. He'd been through nothing. It was Coral who had suffered. It was Coral who had bled. And she hadn't cried.

"Brother?" Jaune opened his eyes at her voice. Blue stared into blue as he hugged, waterworks active again, repeating what he had said a second ago over and over.

"Stop it. You're like a broken record. I'm fine. Don't worry about it. Right now, we just need to focus on prepping for Signal." Jaune stopped his sniffling for a second. _We?_ Qrow didn't mention this. Damn him! He didn't even think to ask me if that was okay. No. He wasn't going to let her become a huntress. Not if it meant putting her in danger again.

"What? No. I don't know what the raging alcoholic guy told you, but there is no way I'm letting you become a huntress." Blue stared into blue again in a staredown, neither leaving the others gaze.

"Mr. Qrow offered me a spot and I accepted it. It was very generous of him and I intend to take advantage of it."

"But you have no training. Not even six months of it. How are you supposed to enter Signal right now and expect to keep up?" He never liked arguing with her. The outcome was always the same – she would win and he would end up feeling sorry for ever trying. But this was serious. His sister, a huntress?

"I don't know? But Mr. Qrow said there will always be room for me so I guess it doesn't matter."

"Doesn't matter? You don't even know how to fight. You're not even very strong or anything. You're just a _normal_ girl!" Coral grimaced at his raised voice. Truth is, she always wanted to become a Hunter as well, but she never wanted to get in Jaune's way.

"How could you say that? I'm you're twin. We have to stick together. Splitting up is like taking a Hunter's weapon away. You _can't_ function without it. Don't fight me on this one. I don't need your permission, but I'd much rather have you be by my side than upset at me for trying." She was ferocious. She looked at him with a mean smile, but her eyes were like a puppy's. He couldn't say no.

"Coral. Fine, but you're gonna have to wait until you get back to full health. I'm gonna have to go to Signal tomorrow so I'll be a bit ahead of you. Also, you have to promise me you won't get into to any danger, not unless I'm there to protect you."

"I agree to those terms." He liked her much better like this. Radiant smile and full of enthusiasm. His eyes drifted to her shoulders that were not quite fully covered by the blanket. He grimaced a bit at her cuts and bruises. He was thankful they were almost all gone thanks to her newly acquired aura, but probably due to her unlocking his own aura, she hadn't quite had enough energy to heal them.

"Alright, get better soon 'kay."

"'Kay. Oh, by the way, did you contact mum and dad yet?"

"Uh no, gimme a sec." Jaune called out to the nurse that was in charge of Coral and asked her if she had a scroll he could contact her on.

"Okay, she's gonna get me a scroll. I'm so not looking forward to this though. We already had enough trouble training me without them knowing. How are we gonna tell them why you're in a hospital bed and how we're going to be entering a freakin' combat school?" Coral smiled.

"Oh, I'll let you take care of that. I'm just gonna pass out right now. See ya later!" She pulled the sheets over herself and turned away from him, laying on her side.

"I hate you sometimes." He turned away and headed back towards the main lobby to let Coral rest. He sat down on a wobbly old chair, facing the front desk waiting patiently for the scroll he asked for.

"Mr. Jaune Arc?" It wasn't the same nurse this time who spoke. But it was obvious to him she knew who he was. It was more of a polite, gracious question than anything.

"Yeah, that's me. Did you get the scroll I asked for?" He knew something was wrong. The time it took for them to get the scroll was far too long, not to mention she had a sorrow sounding voice, a bit grave.

"Miss Ravel already took the liberty of contacting your parents. I-I'm afraid it's bad news." He didn't bother responding. He was just trying to hold back the tears that had come to be so commonplace to him; because he knew what words she was going to say next. All he could do was pray he was wrong.

 _Oh God. Don't tell me something has happened to my family._

"There was a Grimm attack in Ansel."

And there it was. For once he was finally right. His dad was a hunter, so he could take on a few Grimm. But what if there were a pack, where he couldn't fight them off and defend the women of the household at the same time. He shuddered at the thought.

"Ar-are my family okay?" His voice was petered. He didn't even look up at the messenger. He just tried to bore a hole in the floor through pure hatred and anger alone.

"Your town was overrun by Grimm. Your father participated in the defense of the town, along with some other retired hunters, and they held for a while. But there were too many. The only barrier protecting the civilian population of Ansel started to form holes and before long it fell. The civilians flooded into Vale." He could hear her pause after every sentence, as if waiting to see if he would lash out. He knew his family didn't make it, but he dared ask the question he was begging he was wrong about.

"D-did my family make i-it?"

"No, I'm so sorry for your loss." And she was. He could hear it in her voice, a calm voice, but filled with negative emotions.

He nodded his head towards the floor, not even bothering to look up or say anything. He could hear her footsteps as she walked away, slow and quiet, as to not disturb his grieving. But he didn't want to grieve. His new life was emerging as his old one of poor weak Jaune Arc drifted away. He was going to get stronger, even if he had to sell his soul away. But right now, all he wanted to do was find his sister again, hold her tight in his arms, and never let go.

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 **Thanks for reading and don't forget to leave a review.;)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry for the wait. Also a lot longer this time (5k in comparison to 2.5 as with the previous ones).**

 **Onto Chapter 4!**

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Chapter 4

Coral shook her head at those words. She refused to believe it.

 _Her family. Dead?_

There was no way. She was kind all her life. Why would the gods be so cruel to her now, on one particular day?

Her mum was probably at home right now, throwing together something for lunch, yelling at her dear children for their lackluster effort in school.

Her dad was probably sharpening his partner, Crocea Mors, preparing for his next big mission to come around.

Sapphire, Sable, Hazel, Jade, Lavender, and sweet little Amber? Of course they were fine. There was no way they would leave her. Would they?

"Coral. I didn't believe it at first either, but it's true. Mum and dad are gone. Our sisters? Gone. All in one big Grimm attack. I-I talked to the principal at Signal and she said we can stay on campus. She said after what we've been through, we deserve a safe place to rest." Jaune? Why was he here? She just woke up from a terrible nightmare. Where her and Jaune were the only survivors of the Arc family. Right?

"Jaune, I-I—" Her eyes narrowed into slits as she stared into his eyes. "I-I don't know what to do?" She wasn't crying. No, she wouldn't allow herself to. She couldn't help but whimper though.

"Go ahead. You have always been strong, but now it's time for me to be strong for you. If you fall I'll pick up the pieces. Come on, I talked to the doctor. You've been discharged. You can come home now." Yeah… home. Where was that again?

"Okay" She whispered, but didn't let the tears flow. She would never cry in front of Jaune. She had to show him she was strong, and that she didn't need protecting.

-/-

Yang couldn't help but grin that came over her lips as she saw that blond again. _And this time, with a girl!_ She wet her lips and straightened out her uniform, as she sashayed over to where the fun was.

"Hey there blondie, I'm surprised you made it in. What, did your girlfriend smooth things over for ya?" Ooh this was gonna be fun. She could already see it on his face. The guilt.

"No, and sh-"

"Hi, I'm Coral! Nice to meet ya." The blonde girlfriend interrupted excitedly.

Even she was a bit surprised at her response. She was too used to her victims blurting out lazy responses or blushing red. This girl was tough. Or just stupid.

"Coral and I were invited by Mr. Qrow to come train here at Signal." It was her original target this time who spoke, Jaune, if she remembered correctly. And his words surprised her. Her uncle Qrow… invited them? She wasn't sure about the girl, but she had taken down him pretty easily in the exams. What was different about him now?

"My uncle Qrow? He invited you?" Both their eyebrows raised at this.

"You're his niece? Wow. I totally don't see the resemblance. But yeah, he invited us both on a… well a whim. He was pretty adamant about it too."

She wrapped her arm around his shoulder. "Well if my uncle saw something in you two then I guess I have to accept you as well. I'm Yang Xiao-Long by the way, but just call me Yang. Or hotness. Whichever you prefer." He blushed a bit at that, but shook it off fast.

"Well, it was nice meeting you _Yang_." She smirked at his emphasis on her name.

"Yes, it was nice meeting you too, _hotness._ " She could feel a little frown appearing on her face. Okay this girl was good. Confident, exuberant, and smart. She'd have to watch out for her. Ruby would love her.

"Oh, and more thing." Their eyebrows rose in a curious expression, identical to one another. She couldn't help but think they might be twins. "Meet me later after lessons at the entrance. My sister's going to be visiting and I think she'd like to meet you guys."

"Alright, not like we have anything better to do. We'll see you there."

"Later, hotness." She cringed again. _Damn her_! But they were nice enough to her, even if they were a little odd, and he didn't immediately start hitting on her, so she guessed they were okay.

-/-

Jaune was tired. Not only had the teacher droned off for an hour, but he babbled about Grimm and how dangerous they are and how us Hunters are supposed to help the helpless. He even had the audacity to mention the recent Grimm attack on Ansel. That was the main reason for his exhaustion.

He already made up his mind that he was going to put it behind him, if only for the sake of Coral, but having to hear all about the devastation and the hundreds of casualties all over again. That put him over the line. Luckily, Coral saved him once again from causing a scene in front of a bunch of students, though penning up his guilt still wore him out.

"Hey, don't forget we promised to meet up with Yang." Ugh, Yang. He honestly didn't think she was all that bad, her humor and insinuations aside, but he didn't know if he was ready for a friend yet. He never had friends when he was younger. He just had Coral.

"Yeah, I know. What do you think of her?" He replied while massaging his neck, trying to alleviate his headache he could feel forming.

"She's… okay. She seems nice. She's pretty too. I don't mind it, but I can see her teasing getting a bit out of hand. And if she doesn't stop hitting on you then she's totally going to hell." His sister stated matter-of-factly, her smile that she was wearing fading a bit.

"I don't think she was really hitting on me. It was more like she was faking it just to see if I was interested… which I was wasn't. So don't worry about it. Plus, even if you wanted to I doubt you would be able to beat her. In case you don't remember-" He gently poked her nose causing her to stifle back an inch. "you have no combat training whatsoever."

"Yeah, I know. You can stop reminding me." He smiled some, failing to repress the grin that formed. She was so cute when she whined.

Jaune let out a deep sigh. "Come on. We promised to meet her after class and she's going to get mad if we stand her up." He outstretched his hand, offering it to his sister who was lying on their bed.

"Ooh. The way you said it almost makes it sounds like date, doesn't it _Jaune?_ " She placed her hand in his, like a lady's in a true gentleman's, while replying sarcastically, with a silent threat disguised in her words.

Jaune tightened his grip around her soft hand and gently placed his lips against the back of her hand. She giggled lightly, as his azure orbs made eye contact with hers, a smile forming on his lips… "Shut up."

-/-

"Oh my God! You guys are SO cool! You've got an awesome sword and you don't have a weapon which means you're probably super good at close combat or your weapons are concealed which ei-"

"Whoah, Rubes. Slow down. This is Jaune-" Yang pointed to the thirteen-year-old blond boy. "- and this is chick here is his girlfriend Coral" Coral couldn't help but laugh at the cute little girl with a red cloak. Her exuberance was… noted. It was a nice change it atmosphere though, with all that has been going on and stuff. She turned to see Jaune flinch a bit at the girlfriend part, but she actually just smiled at it.

She loved her brother obviously. But did she LOVE her brother? That she wasn't sure of. She might have, she wasn't sure. She never really thought about love that much; after all, she was still only thirteen and counting. She wasn't old enough to be dating surely.

And even if she did love him, it was wrong. They were siblings, twins. They couldn't fall in love. And Jaune certainly didn't feel that way about her, if Yang's insinuations could be considered.

 _Just give it time. Maybe it will all work out. After all, boys mature slower than girls, right? Maybe he'll return my feelings when he's older. Yeah – NO! Stop it! I can't think that way about him, he's my twin brother. Err._

"Hey Coral… are you okay?" She opened her eyes to find strong, dark blue ones staring back into her own, before coming to the realization that she was still glaring at him – and had been – for a while. Her face started turning the color of Ruby's cloak.

"Wha… yeah I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, you were just staring at me funny. Anyway, we were wondering what kind of weapon you wanted. Yang here says that all first-years have to forge their own weapon." She turned away from him and back towards the two sisters, noticing Yang retracting her hand that was previously covering Ruby's eyes. She was thankful for Jaune changing the subject, though, it posed a new and difficult question.

 _What weapon DO I want? I don't want to copy Jaune's sword and shield combo, and I definitely don't want to fight hand to hand like Yang. Hmm…_

"Eh, hello? Girl? Are you sick or something? Or maybe… _love_ -sick? Huh? Coral, snap out of it!" Coral's eyes cleared up as she stared dazedly into lavender orbs paired with their owners grin that was barely containing the inevitable laughter that Coral couldn't figure out what from.

"Huh? What? I was just thinking what weapon I want to choose."

"And-and what did you decide?" It was the shortest one of the four of them who talked this time. Ruby stood there with eyes wide, staring up and into Coral's, waiting anxiously for the answer she didn't know.

"I-I don't know to be honest. I only decided to become a huntress because I wanted to help people-" _To be with Jaune_ is what she thought, but decided not to voice. "- and that was only like a couple of days ago."

"Oh. Well, when I get into Signal I'M gonna make a scythe with a sniper rifle built into it."

"You're going to go to Signal? Bu-but you're so tiny and innocent and cute and stuff." It was her brother who spoke this time, and she had to admit, he had a point. She just couldn't imagine a cute little girl like Ruby wielding a giant scythe… with a sniper rifle mechanism. Well actually she could imagine it, but the thought of that girl next to a scythe larger than her own body? Yeah… that would be weird.

"Aww! Rubes I think someone's got a crush on you." Yang said with a hinting voice, while bumping her hips into her petite sister shoulder. Ruby almost fell over from her sister's action and blushed furiously as she regained her footing. Coral even giggled a little bit. Ruby with her brother? Yeah… that would be weird. But she didn't read into it. It was just Yang making one of her stupid jokes again. No harm done. Right?

"Yang! H-he didn't say that! All he said was I was cute. Which is true!"

"Exactly. He said you were cute, which means he likes you. Plus, your outburst right now just confirmed that YOU like him."

"No it doesn't. And I don't like him!"

"Ouch."

Coral watched the two siblings go back and forth, back and forth. After a minute or two she even noticed Jaune start to pitch in to the argument a bit. The incessant chatter was making it hard for her to concentrate on the dilemma in her head, however, so instead she decided just to stand there, gaze at the banter flaring up between the sisters. It brought back memories of her own sisters.

-/-

 _"Sapphire."_

 _"What? Just do it. If you don't learn how to dance, how will you expect to pick up any girls when you're older? Trust me, you'll thank me later. Come on now, forwards, side, together. Backwards, side, together."_

Her own eldest sister, dancing the waltz with her twin brother, in the family room of their two story house in Ansel. What a sight to behold.

She didn't like it. She didn't like him dancing with Sapphire. She couldn't help but feel like she was taking her twin away from her. Most of all though, she hated seeing him unhappy. She knew it was silly of her, that Jaune was just being a complain-y little boy.

Coral wasn't sure when her overprotective, coddle-y, fussy, finicky, and maybe even attraction towards her twin came to be, but she suspected it arose from something like this. The feeling that he didn't need her anymore.

Of course she was always overjoyed when he would come back from dancing lessons with Saph, and run into her arms as if he was just released from prison. It was _almost_ worth the dancing lessons in the first place. But dancing was at the bottom of the list. He wasn't actually being hurt, not physically anyway. The bullying really pissed her off.

 _"Jaune!"_

 _"I'm fine Coral. It's just a scratch"_

 _"Just a scratch? You're bleeding! Here, let me help you to the nurse's office."_

 _"No! Just… leave me alone. I don't need your help!_

Watching him hurt like that, bleeding and not wanting to accept any help. That was literal torture. Oh she got those bullies back for that one, but that didn't prevent more scum from coming along and hurting her Jaune.

Everytime.

The cycle just repeated itself, like a broken record. The bullies just came back. Either that or new ones came to replace the old ones.

She always thought it was because he was weak, because he didn't have the courage to stand up for himself, but when she heard him the day he declared he wanted to become a Hunter, she changed her mind.

After that she believed he was courageous, and just didn't have the strength to pair with it.

And then six months from that, she changed her mind once again.

 _Coral opened her eyes to find Jaune, tears trailing down his face placing two fingers on an unconscious man's neck. To find a door that had flown off its hinges having shattered a window in the process. To see Jaune, shakily grab the knife lying above her heart…_

 _"This is for Coral you son of a-"_

That was when she realized what had transpired. Her own body was covered in cuts and she hurt all over. She realized that she had made a mistake chanting that spell. But at that moment, right after Jaune finally discovered his newfound strength, she saw him, about to make the biggest mistake of his life. For her.

 _"Jaune"_

When he dropped the knife, when he paused his quest for vengeance at the slightest whisper of her voice. When he came to pick her up, shedding tears all for her. When he was her knight in shining armor, her savior.

That was when she realized just how strong Jaune Arc was.

And when he left. When he got dragged away from her, all she could remember was herself, trying to mutter the word "Stay" but yielding no results. Trying to lift her arm up while her twin was being separated from her and then slowly drifting away into unconsciousness.

-/-

"Alright, see you tomorrow Yang. It was nice meeting you too Ruby. I can't wait to see what that weapon of yours will look like in a couple of years." Jaune waved them goodbye, receiving two of them himself in return.

Jaune turned a 180 degrees from the two sisters to see his own twin sister standing there peacefully. Her eyes were closed and her bangs and skirt were swaying back and forth by the wind. He brought his right hand up and placed it on her left shoulder. He could feel how relaxed she was, no tenseness in her shoulders.

"Come on sister, you and I have a responsibility now. To become Hunters. So that no one has to suffer like you have."

Her eyes opened, revealing eyes vaster than the sky itself, staring straight into his own.

"No brother, you're wrong. We have to become Hunters so no one has to suffer like _we_ have."

-/-

At this moment, Jaune could admit he was happy. He graduated from Signal with flying colors, being honored as the salutatorian, and successfully made and kept a whopping number of two friends from start to finish of his four years at the premier junior combat school in Vale.

Also, to rub a little salt in the wound, one of his three friends, Ruby Rose, got invited by the Headmaster of Beacon Academy himself to attend two years prior to her graduation at Signal. Of course it scared the crap out of him at first, hearing that she had gotten into a tussle with one of the worlds most renowned criminals. But once the dust settled and Ruby explained everything that happened, the four of them all got on the soonest bullhead ride to Beacon.

"Ew, Jaune! My shoes!" He didn't bother responding to Yang's disgust with him. It wasn't his fault he got air sick.

"Jaune has always suffered from motion sickness. It's just one of the many flaws in his design. I remember the time his vomit went flying off the roller coaster at the Vytal festival one year. Ah, good times." Coral explained with a smile, almost as if she wasn't being sarcastic about his embarrassing memory. Right?

"Okay, that's fine. But why did you have to do it on my shoes! Couldn't you have just thrown up on the floor or better yet, the trash can?"

He heard Ruby giggle at this. The girl had definitely matured since he met her four years ago, but her elated and spastic behavior definitely stayed. Definitely.

"Sorry, the stupid aircraft was turbulent. I was getting thrown all over the place… and I just happened to get thrown towards you… at the same time as I was vomiting… which was because the bullhead was shaking violently. Obviously."

He couldn't prevent the grin that came over his face from forming, perhaps at the somewhat funny situation or maybe it was just how cute Yang was when she was angry. It was a face that to anyone who hadn't been friends with her for the past four years, would be as scary as a Death Stalker.

Maybe more.

He'd seen it in person many times. Whether it was one of her many suitors or some bully trying to pick on Ruby, every time her semblance would flare and the poor unlucky guy would be sent home with his tail between his legs.

But he thought it was cute. And apparently so did Coral judging by her face. Ruby not quite. She was just staring at the ground, silently kicking the floor, pretending that giggle didn't escape her earlier.

Yang was growling. Like a lioness guarding its territory. Or like a lioness venting her anger and disgust when her shoes get vomited on. Yeah… certainly not the latter.

"What the hell, Jaune! Ugh, damn you. I'm SO for kicking your ass right now. Though I might be tempted into forgiving you and not subsequently kick your ass, if you buy me _two_ new pairs of shoes."

"Two?"

"Three."

"But Ya-"

"Are you really that desperate to buy me a fourth pair?"

"Fine, whatever. I'll get you some new shoes when we get settled in to Beacon."

"Good. Now that that's settled, it seems we're landing in just a sec." He turned away from his newest waste of lien and out the window on his left.

 _There it is. Beacon Academy for aspiring young Hunters. What I've worked so hard for. What I sacrificed everything for. NO! Coral sacrificed everything too… and more…_

Jaune cleared his mind from those thoughts and held his stomach as he trotted off the bullhead.

"Ohmigod, there it is. BEACON ACADEMY. Ahh." Ruby gazed dazedly at the architectural brilliance of the academy.

"Hey Rubes, it sounds like your hav-? Hey, ow!" Jaune pulled her silky hair. It was a great way to get her angry or prevent her from spouting out crude jokes, and considering how much time she spent just this morning, her reaction was no surprise.

 _And there's that face again._

"Come on, let's go inside." Coral quickly interjected when she noticed a smirk forming on his face and walked towards the crowd of people gathering in front of the school, saving him from another potential argument. Yang simply just scoffed at him and followed after his sister. He and Ruby did so as well.

-/-

"I'll… keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge—to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose – direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step." Coral recognized the man with silver hair and glasses that gave this speech as none other than the headmaster of Beacon Academy himself, Ozpin.

"Sound advice, though he seemed a little… off. A little rude to call us wasted energy too." Yang whispered amongst the four of them.

"He's only trying to help us. He doesn't want to believe that we are already combat ready."

"Coral's right. He's probably a really nice guy once you get to know him." Their mini conversation was cut short when a stern blonde woman took over the microphone.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."

"Let's go into town. She said we have until nighttime so I want to you to get me new shoes before then." Yang poked Jaune's breastplate and pulled him away from Ruby and herself. She heard Jaune faintly call her name in an attempt to save him but to no avail.

"Hey Ruby, want to go check out other people's weapons?" Coral questioned the scythe wielding girl in response to Yang taking her twin away.

"Ooh yeah! Let's talk to that girl with the red hair. She looks like she has cool weapons!"

-/-

"It's like a big slumber party!" Yang plopped down on the sleeping bag between Ruby's and Coral's.

"I don't think dad would approve of all the boys, though." Jaune shot her a disappointing look. "Except you Jaune, of course, haha…."

"I know I do!" Yang winked at a few shirtless muscular boys across the room and purred loudly causing him to groan in disgust.

"Ruby and I met The Invincible Girl earlier while you two were out." Coral explained to the other two blonds. She sighed with her face in her hand as both Yang and he shot her questioning looks. "Though you two might know her better as Pumpkin Pete's mascot."

"Oh yeah! The redhead. She looked pretty hot on the box." Yang and Coral shot him dirty looks while Ruby just lied there staring at the ceiling. "Too bad the cereal taste like crap though."

A brief memory of the four of them at the two sister's house flashed through his mind. He and Coral would hang out over there a lot in between school. The four of them were trying the newly released cereal out while discussing Ruby's recent entrance in Signal.

Their father was nice enough and was happy to have them over after hearing what happened to their family. He was pleased to know that his daughters were making friends as well. He never mentioned his daughter's mothers, but Jaune had heard from Yang and Ruby that they were both amazing hunters and that they formed a team with their uncle Qrow and their father.

Jaune assumed that it was too painful to talk about. He could relate…

Yang interrupted his reminiscing and pointed to Pumpkin Pete's mascot who appeared to be prepping for bed. "Hey look, there she is. We should go talk to her."

They all tiptoed through the sleeping bags, making their way over across the hall.

"Hi. You're the girls from earlier right? Coral and Ruby… was it?" She confirmed as she turned back towards Yang and him. "Are these your friends?"

"Yup! This is my big sis, Yang and that's Coral's twin brother. The three of them all went to Signal together." Ruby explained with a touch of sadness at the state of her own inclusion.

"It's nice to meet you." He and Yang both introduced themselves at the same time. "You _are_ on the cover of every Pumpkin Pete's cereal box right?" It was just Jaune who spoke this time, as if to just make sure his twin wasn't making it up.

"Yes I am. My name is Pyrrha Nikos. Sadly the cereal is not very good for your health."

"Yeah it tastes like crap too." Jaune restated his earlier comment. "The only good thing about it was the box."

"Wow Jaune, hitting on her already."

"I was _talking_ about the box tops. Not that you didn't look good too, of course. If you collect a hundred of them, you can get a free scroll."

"And did you?" Pyrrha questioned, paying no attention to Yang's comment.

"Yeah I did. I ended up with a lot of cereal that I wouldn't eat though, so I just donated it to the school. It's how me and Coral both have scrolls."

"I see. Well I'll see you guys tomorrow for initiation then?"

"Yeah we'll see you tomorrow." Ruby agreed as they all maneuvered their way back to their sleeping bags and waved Pyrrha goodbye.

"Nice save back there Jaune. You know with the box tops and everything." Yang elbowed him in the side and raised her eyebrows while smiling at him.

Coral didn't allow Jaune to reply before doing so herself. "Technically it's true that we did receive are scrolls from collecting two-hundred box tops."

"But that's not what he was thinking at the time, was it Jaune?"

"Of course it was. I wouldn't flirt with her, I just met her." Jaune said with a straight face, not willing to submit.

"You said she was hot before. Not to mention you were flexing your muscles while you were speaking to her."

Yang had a point. He was trying to impress her, but still he wasn't just going to let Yang win this one.

"What! You noticed that?" He yelled, the surprise on his face not going unnoticed.

"Duh. You were practically flaunting it. Plus, you expected her to notice so naturally everyone else did too. Right Coral?"

"I saw no such thing."

"I didn't notice it either."

" _I_ saw it. It was as plain as day. Plus you basically just admitted it."

"So what you're saying is that you noticed me flexing my muscles when no one else did. So you must having been looking for it. That's understandable I guess."

"I was not! Ugh, you're such a-"

"Guys, I think everyone is trying to sleep. We probably shouldn't be so loud." Ruby cut her off, poking her index fingers together as she glanced around the room, noticing the many people staring at them.

"She's right let's go to bed. We have an early day tomorrow." Coral once again broke up their argument and ushered them to their sleeping areas.

They had a long day ahead of them.

* * *

 **Yup, no Weiss. I had to get rid of one character (to make room for Coral) as I didn't want to have any weird 5 man teams or anything. It was between her, Blake and Pyrrha, but Blake's involvement with the White Fang and Pyrrha's Fall maiden stuff made it hard to get rid of them. Don't worry though, she will come in eventually, she'll just have a much smaller role than cannon.**

 **Next time, initiation!**

 **Don't forget to review if you enjoyed!**


	5. Chapter 5

**And just to clear it up, Weiss will not be attending Beacon in this story. She will play a part in it, though not big, but it will be elsewhere. I'm going to be writing from mostly Jaune and Coral's perspective, followed by Yang and Ruby. There might be some of others as well, but a lot less common (probably Pyrrha or Blake). Also check out the start of my thirty kisses challenge (JaunexPyrrha). And don't expect chapters this often all the time.**

 **Anyways, onto initiation!**

* * *

Chapter 5

Ruby was excited... and anxious. She had been at Beacon for a full twenty-four hours and now her and her friends were gearing up for the first official day of their training. No more chit-chat that she couldn't participate in. No more feeling awkward because she was two years younger than everyone else. She could just let Crescent Rose do the talking instead.

She was like this at Signal too, always more of an action over words kind of girl. Perhaps that was why she didn't have any of her own friends, just Yang and hers. She'd become great friends with Jaune and Coral, sure, but that didn't change them from treating her like Yang's little sister.

It was only during combat when she really got to show her true colors. She was definitely levels above most of the students her age at Signal, but now she had to keep up with people two years older. She'd casually sparred against her friends before and they reassured her that she was strong enough for Beacon, but that didn't take her anxiety away.

She was worried about who she had to partner up with. She heard rumors that there were going to be four person teams. She wanted to partner up with Yang and everyone, but she was starting to worry that they were going to choose Pyrrha instead of her.

"So sister, you seem awfully chipper this morning." It was her sister who spoke this time, crossing her arms under her breasts.

"Well yeah… I get to show off my sweetheart today." Ruby couldn't hide the excitement in her voice as she stroked Crescent Rose caringly.

"Yeah, of course. Have you thought about whose team you want to be on yet?"

Ruby turned back to her rocket locker worriedly.

"I kinda just figure I could be with you, Jaune, and Coral."

"That's cool with me, but I think Jaune is trying to recruit tall, hot, and red over there. And Coral will probably follow him wherever he goes so it we might have to find a couple more members." Yang explained, stroking her hair over her shoulder.

"I see… ooh what about those two over there!" Ruby pointed to the excitable ginger haired girl and the stoic boy with a pink streak in his hair.

 _"Nora?"_

 _"Yes Ren?"_

 _"I don't think sloths make a lot of noise."_

 _"That's why it's perfect! No one will suspect we're working together!"_

 _"Come on Nora, let's go."_

 _"Not 'together together…'"_

"I don't know Rubes? They seem… odd, I mean sloths?" Yang argued against her idea of Ren and Nora on their team. "I think we should just wait and see what happens."

"Okaay, as long as I get to be on your team."

"Of course, Ruby, of course."

* * *

Coral looked on as her brother conversed with Pyrrha.

She, strangely enough, actually liked the girl. She was strong and kind and she didn't flaunt her accomplishments. Jaune had definitely taken a liking to her, something that she couldn't help but get frustrated at. Just seeing him with another girl made her uncomfortable. But now he was actually flirting with her and it was working too.

It seemed the redhead was a bit oblivious to Jaune's not so subtle attempts to partner together, though, as she told him she'd just let the "chips fall where they may".

It was a plus for her though. She wanted to partner with him, or at worst at least be on the same team. She suspected that the Headmaster wouldn't make it so easy as to let them choose their own team.

She had woken up early this morning, long before Jaune and the others did. She had gotten used to waking up alone as Jaune had never been a morning person. Sometimes even to the point where she would have to wake him for classes because he slept through his alarm.

She didn't mind it though. She often enjoyed waking up next to his sleeping face, sometimes with a trail of drool running down to his pillow. She also liked to prepare herself before he woke up, brushing her hair and straightening her hair as to not let him see her in a state of un-readiness.

She was basically his maid sometimes, having to clean up after him and cook for him. He showed his gratitude of course, but even without it she would still do it. After all, that's what sisters are for… right?

But he helped her in other ways. He was the first to train her. She still remembered those early days of Signal. Jaune would help her work out, doing the exercises next to her and pressing her to her limits. It was hard, for sure, but even when she had half a mind to just give up being a huntress he always stuck with it. He gave her the strength she needed to continue.

And now look where she was. A huntress in training and graduate of Signal academy, a loyal friend and a loving sister. She couldn't have done it without him. She wouldn't be alive without him.

The things she did for him didn't even come close to repaying what he did for her. For the first few months of Signal he told her that she didn't need to do repay him in any way, but after a lot of pressuring he finally gave up and let her help him out with more menial tasks.

It didn't come close to covering the debt she owed him, but at least it was a start. Maybe one day she could do the same for him. She hoped it would never come to that.

And here she was, just standing there with her weapons at her side, watching her brother and Pyrrha talk.

"I would love to be on a team with you Jaune."

And it seemed her brother finally got his point across.

 _Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately._

"Well it seems it's time. You go on ahead. I'll see you there Pyrrha."

"Okay, later Jaune."

Coral watched as the two of them waved goodbye to one another as Pyrrha went on ahead. Jaune headed back towards their lockers, opening his and digging around.

"What are you looking for?" She questioned, honestly curious as to what he was getting. He already had all his armor and Crocea Mors.

"Aha! Here it is." He announced while extending his arm out to her.

"Is that… necklace?"

"It is. I bought it when I was in town yesterday with Yang. But it's not just any necklace. See if you press the button right here—" Jaune pressed the button, causing his own to flash. "-it signals the other. I already linked it with your scroll so it can be tracked. I bought it so if one of us is ever in danger, the other can always find them."

"I-I thank you Jaune. I will keep it on me at all times." Coral hung the curio around her neck and pressed his gift against her chest. She was touched at his thoughtful gift and, for once, it was actually quite smart. She was a bit surprised she never thought of it.

Though she never planned to leave his side in the first place.

"Come on—" He waved for her to follow him. "—we don't want to be late on our first day do we?"

"No, of course not."

* * *

"For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

Jaune glanced down at the steel platform below. It was decorated with two axes crossed that were circumscribed by a wreath. As they were currently standing at the edge of a cliff, it wasn't hard to put together what was going on. They were going to be launched. Off a cliff. On their very first day.

He wasn't worried about landing. No, he was pretty sure he could land easily with the help of Crocea Mors. He was more worried about his motion sickness. It was something that he could never overcome. At Signal, he learned to swing a sword and defeat soulless monsters sure, but when it came down to something like this, not even Signal could fix him.

He would just have to sacrifice this morning's breakfast for it. Not too bad overall, but it always left a dry feeling in his mouth that made him want to clean his teeth right away. It would also leave his stomach empty which might affect his combat should this drag on too long.

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of _teams._ Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates… _today_." It was the only known female member of the staff who explained this with a hint of boredom in her voice, suggesting that she must give this talk every year.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well." He heard Ruby groan a bit at this, perhaps at the fear of getting paired with someone she didn't like for the next four years.

"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years." Ruby went from being a bit uncomfortable to outright exasperated. Even he was shocked to hear such a random rule being said.

 _Oh yeah, he tells us that we should be paired with someone we would work well with and then springs this shit on us. Damn him._

"After you've partnered up, make you way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path… or you _will_ die." That was something he had no problem with. Kill Grimm and make it to the end of the forest. Easy. "You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

Jaune raised his hand.

"Yeah, um, sir."

" _Good!_ Now, take your positions."

He watched as other students took different stances. His own friends struck a pose as well, Yang raising her fists, Ruby readying her body, and his sister crouching down low.

He also adopted his own stance, but kept his hand raised.

"Um, sir. Are we going to be flying through the air?" Jaune asked, just to confirm his suspicion.

"Yes, you will be falling."

He heard platforms being launched next to him, furthering the Headmaster's comment. He dropped his hand down to his side and unhooked Crocea Mors from his side. He held the family heirloom with two hands out in front of him.

"You see, I have terrible mo—" Jaune was cut off by his own platform being launched, effectively sucking his breath away as he soared through the sky.

He literally threw up mid-air. His throat gagged as he felt this morning's breakfast coming up through his esophagus. His vomit flew through the air behind him as he wiped the rest of from the side of his mouth. He just hoped no one got hit with his flying projectile.

 _There goes breakfast._

Flying through the air was actually pretty enjoyable, aside from his motion sickness problem. The wind at his back and the cool air brushing against his face was pleasurable. It didn't quite make up for the lost meal, but it made him feel alive. To him, fighting was fun for the most part, as long as no one got hurt. It was like playing a MMORPG. The aim of the game is to gain strength and power to defeat the evil forces of darkness. That was what he felt like every time he cut down a Grimm, like he was gaining experience.

Maybe it was an odd analogy, but that's what it reminded him of. He played a few video games while he was younger, mostly with Amber. He liked them for the most part, that was, until the attack four years ago.

Once his training to become a hunter began, he didn't have time for nor did he want to partake in such silly things anymore. They almost felt… wrong to him. He'd seen Yang play them all the time during his stay at Signal. He couldn't help but feel like she was wasting time. Wasting time that could have been spent honing her skills so other people wouldn't have to experience loss like they did. Yang and Ruby had suffered almost as much as he and Coral.

Still, it was something that he might want to try again. Once this was all over. But what was this? He didn't know.

Jaune's instincts that he tuned over the past four years picked up on something flying through the air towards him on his left.

"What the—"

He hastily drew his sword with a light ping and converted the defensive half of his weapon to its shield form. The screeching of metal against metal struck his ears as the attempted assassination weapon lost its momentum and fell to the ground below him.

He rapidly approached the ground and calmly pulled the small, hook-like lever on the side of Crocea Mors, transforming the weapon's design slightly allowing for the use of a dust cartridge along with a firing mechanism.

He positioned his weapon towards the ground behind him and pulled the trigger, the recoil allowing him to slow his descent. He dug his heels into the ground when he reached the forest floor, coming out unharmed thanks to his aura. His shoes were a bit dirty, but that was nothing in the grand scheme of things.

Jaune bent down and grabbed the weapon and instantly recognized it as Milo, one of Pyrrha's weapons.

"I must have went a bit overboard today if she wanted to ki—. What the—Yang?" Yang crashed into Jaune sending them both tumbling on the ground. She landed on top of him with her hands on his breastplate pinning him to the ground as she braced herself in a semi-suggestive position.

"Ow, Yang! What the hell! If you wanted me that badly you could have just asked." He said as he pretended to struggle and push her off of him.

"Very funny. But there's time for discussion later. There's a giant fucking snake on my tail."

"Yet you still have time to make a pun. Typical Yang."

Yang lifted herself up and off him and turned back to the green that she flew out of, leaving him to stand up on his own, something he knew was intentional. He fastened Milo to his belt while transitioning Crocea Mors back to its original form. He unsheathed the blade and held the shield at his side to prepare for potential combat and because he was lacking a proper place to carry it due to Pyrrha's unexpected weapon coming under his care.

"Are you planning on fighting it?" Jaune questioned.

"I don't know? You're here so maybe we can double team it, or rather make it a two-on-two." He shot her a curious look. "There it is!"

Jaune now realized what she meant by _two-on-two_. It was a King Taijitu. He read about the Grimm at Signal.

 _The King Taijitu has two sides, a black and a white. They fight combining quick lunges and razor sharp_ _teeth along with their ability of constriction._ Jaune recalled his studies on the particular species of Grimm.

"Yang, I'll distract it. If you can land a direct blow to one of its heads that should be enough kill it." She nodded at him and rose her fists in a boxing position. Jaune brought his shield in front of him and struck his sword against it like a cymbal.

Both heads were drawn towards the racket. Jaune stayed his ground and held the kite shield steady, trusting in Yang to be able to take it out.

"Try this!" She flew out from the left side as her gauntlet collided with the Grimm's black head, the impact killing it instantly.

The remaining head re-focused on Yang once again.

"I'll take this one, just keep it busy." Jaune let his shield arm fall to his side and readied Crocea Mors. Yang heeded his words and fired off a few rounds to keep its attention.

He crouched down and put all his strength into his legs and sprung towards the monster. With a grunt, Jaune swung Crocea Mors in an arc, cutting cleanly through the bony structure of the base of its head and decapitating the final head of the monster as the rest of the body disintegrated.

"Well, that wasn't too bad… partner." Yang placed her hands on her hips and retracted Ember Celica. He rolled his eyes at her and sheathed his blade, holding it in his left hand.

He offered his right hand out to her. And she gripped it with her own.

 _Partners._

* * *

"Birdie, no!"

Ruby crashed into a raven face first in a burst of feathers as she plummeted downwards. She pulled the exterior knob towards herself in Crescent Rose's rifle form, the knockback from the dust rounds decelerating her speed.

She tucked her legs in to allow for a mid-air somersault re-positioning herself with her feet closest to the ground. Crescent Rose was expanded to its most extended form as Ruby hooked her weapon onto a stray branch just below the blade.

The force shook the tree, but her estimate of its strength was not proven wrong as she swung in a full circle and her scythe slipped under the branch launching her in a small arc.

She safely landed on the ground in a crouch and placed one hand on the ground for stability. Her rehearsed mantra rang aloud in her mind as she darted forward in search of her dear sister.

 _Gotta find Yang! Gotta find Yang, gotta find Yang, gotta find…_

"Yang! Yaaaang!" She tried calling but to no avail.

 _Oh… this is bad. What if I can't find her? What if someone finds her first? Well… there's always Jaune and Coral. They're both pretty strong. And funny. Though, what if someone finds them first too? I better hurry!_

"Yang! Coral! Jaune!" She tried again with no response.

"Ruby. Ruby."

She spun around in a 360 searching for the where the whisper came from.

"Who's there?" Ruby frantically asked with Crescent Rose held in front of her in anticipation.

"Ruby. It's me, Coral." Ruby turned to see Coral emerging from some brush with… sunglasses?

"Coral! Why are you wearing those?" The scythe wielding girl questioned, pointing to the blonde's shades.

"So I don't have to make eye contact. See? This way we can interact without having to make eye contact. It already came in handy once." Coral gently tapped her glasses with a light ping.

"That's… really smart! You never cease to amaze me. How did you know about that rule though?" Ruby complimented her, though she sort of felt as if it was bending the rules a bit.

"I asked around. Some girl told me it was a yearly tradition and was even nice enough to give me a pair."

"That's nice of her… d-do you want to be my partner?" She had a hint of desperation mixed with worry in her voice.

"I want to find Jaune first. If he already has a partner then I will… graciously accept your offer." Ruby frowned. It was obvious that Coral would prefer to be with her brother than her, but it still hurt. Apparently, she picked up on her slight disappointment. "Don't worry, we'll find you sister too."

"Okaaay. So where are we going now then?" She trusted that Coral would have come up with some brilliant plan. She always did.

"Can you use your semblance with me as well?" Coral asked her as her scroll flashed to life.

"I don't know? It's probably not a good idea. I move at unnatural speeds so it might be too much for you." Ruby explained disappointingly as the blonde punched something into her scroll before looking back towards her.

"Okay, I was able to track him. He's northeast of here. We'll need to find a faster way than running around through the forest if we're going to reach him before someone else, though." Ruby glanced around at her surroundings, squinting as if to help her think better.

"Oh… hey I have an idea!" she earned a questioning look but didn't bother responding before grabbing her by the wrist and proceeding to jump off the side of the cliff.

She was surprised that Coral didn't make a sound when she pulled them both off. Ruby felt her stomach rise and, with one hand, performed a similar maneuver as earlier, firing off a few shots to boost the two of them further before hooking her scythe on the claw of a Nevermore.

"Ahh, my glasses!" Coral shouted, but she only heard a muffled cry as the wind threatened to knock them loose.

"What was that— "Ruby yelled over the roaring of their ride and looked down towards Coral. She didn't realize her glasses had been lost. But as she stared into sky blue eyes, she saw her newfound…. "-partner."

She didn't remove her gaze from her as she retracted Crescent Rose, cutting them loose from the flying Grimm, and letting them free fall down into the forest.

They swapped positions in the air, Ruby's large weapon dragging her down first.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to look in your eyes!" Ruby apologized. She knew that Coral wanted to be with Jaune, and now she had gone and claimed her before she even had the chance. She didn't want Coral to hate her, especially now that they had to be partners for the next four years.

"It's okay. I want to be your partner." Ruby had a confused grin on her face. She was happy sure, but just wasn't quite sure why Coral had the sudden change of heart. "Turn around. It seems our siblings have already found each other."

Ruby shifted her weight and flipped around. Her sister was down there with Jaune, shaking hands over a smoking Grimm.

"Heads uuup!" Ruby cried at the two blonds, realizing that she and her new partner were falling at a high velocity. Her hands went to action and activated Crescent Rose's rifle mode in an attempt to slow their fall.

She pulled the trigger thrice, dust rounds impacting the ground below as she was pushed higher up and into Coral. She landed relatively safely in the crater she had just created, her aura shrugging off any small injuries. Her partner also landed close by, having jumped off her before her landing.

"Whoah, that was quite the entrance. Was that… a Nevermore?" It was her sister who spoke this time, asking to confirm their method of transportation. There was a touch of concern and overprotective sister in there too.

"It was. Ruby thought it would be a good way to get here faster. And it worked." Coral explained, saving her from having to tell her sister she rode a Grimm to get to her. Yang just frowned.

Coral was right though. It did work well. They got here in just a few minutes flat.

"So you two are partners, huh? Nice. Hey, maybe if we're lucky we'll all get paired on the same team." It was Jaune who interjected her stare down with her sister. She also hoped that they would be paired with each other, then she would be able to be with all of her friends.

"I also wish we end up on the same team, but, for now, we should proceed to the northern part of the forest. We still have a couple of relics to find."

Ruby liked her new partner. She was strong and smart and well-respected. All the things that she wasn't. In a way they fit together perfectly, like two jigsaw pieces when finally united.

"Yeah, let's go get find this temple!" Yang enthusiastically shouted earning nods from everyone.

"It's this way. I made sure to get a good look as I was maneuvering for my landing strategy. There's a clearing around the temple, so it stood out easily enough." Her partner stated and waved for them to follow.

The four of them walked through the forest at a leisurely pace. There were a few Grimm on the way of which were easily disposed. Other than the occasional conversational starter, no one talked much. Maybe it was because everyone was a bit on edge, what with being in a Grimm infested forest, or maybe no one could find anything to say.

She knew she couldn't. She was never really one to start conversations anyway, though. She just figured that no one wanted to chat about any of the things they usually talked about as those topics were primarily light-hearted and casual.

After about twenty of trekking, the came upon a mountain.

"The temple should be on the other side of this mountain. Climbing it would be too hard, but we could try going around." Coral explained.

Travel around it? That would take hours… the Headmaster hadn't actually specified a time limit for initiation, but Ruby was smart enough to know that there were other students out there. This was supposed to be a weeding out process so there were most likely a couple relics short for the pairs that couldn't find the temple fast enough. And there was no way she was going to go back home after getting invited and everything, and she was sure that the others would feel the same way.

Coral was right when she said climbing would be too hard. It would definitely be faster than the alternative, but none of them had any sort of equipment suitable for such a feat.

Just when it seemed as if they lost all hope, she spotted an arched shadow through the all the branches and foliage.

"Look," she activated her semblance and rushed over to her find. "I found something!"

"Is that… a cave?" Her sister asked, surprised at the convenience of such a thing. "Does it go all the way through?"

"It should. I can't see the end from here so it's not an alcove, so there's a good chance of it running to the other side. _But_ we can't be sure how big this mountain is. For all we know this cave goes on for miles." Coral once again exhibiting her intelligence and knowledge.

 _I don't want to have to walk miles in there, but there's no other way past this mountain so…_

"I think we should try it. It's not like we have much other choice in terms of tackling this mountain."

"I agree with Ruby, we're not gonna get anywhere just standing around. Let's go." Jaune walked ahead and approached the cave.

"But what if there's Grimm in there?" Yang argued, causing him to turn around to acknowledge her.

"This forest is infested with Grimm, which don't need any form of sustenance to live. From a statistical standpoint, there would be the same percent chance of there being one in there as out here." Jaune proudly crossed his arms over his chest at his recalled studies.

"Yang has a point though. _If_ we do encounter the opposition in the cave, we'll all have a much harder time engaging it in such a potentially small environment." Coral backed up the other blonde girl's side of the argument before switching sides. "But I do agree that we have no other option. We all just need to be prepared for combat."

They all nodded at her wise words and each following. Yang extended Ember Celica into gauntlets, Jaune drew Crocea Mors and expanded his sheath, Coral reached for her weapons in her cloak, and she transformed Crescent Rose into its rifle state as to be ready, but not too cumbersome.

Jaune led the way with a torch he made himself, his partner only too happy to help light it. The improvised light source was supplemented by Coral's scroll, which she rightly brought along when everyone else figured they wouldn't need theirs. Still, both of them combined only illuminated a small area in front of them that they all huddled into.

Ruby herself was a bit scared… and disgusted. She had originally thought it a good idea, but the thick moist air reeked all sorts of disgusting. They had to squeeze together sometimes just because the pathway got so narrow at points. She stepped in puddles a couple times, the cold black liquid sticking to her boots and soaking through to her socks.

Her toes felt gross as they dripped with sweat and God knows what else and her forehead was sweating so much from the humid atmosphere she just wanted to cut all her hair off. She didn't, of course, but the thought still plagued her mind. She could feel the breeze getting stronger, so at least they seemed to be close to the exit. Thank god it wasn't miles long like Coral hypothesized.

And they didn't run into any Grimm! Yet, anyways. But honestly she would rather take on a whole horde of Grimm than have to go through this cave again. As she walked further on she caught a glimpse of light coming from around the corner.

"I see light!" She squeaked, finally breaking the silence, and even causing Jaune to jump a bit as she pushed to get ahead.

 _Finally, it's over._

"Ruby, get back!" Coral shouted and grabbed her across the chest with her arm, causing her to gasp in surprise. "That's a Death Stalker!"

* * *

 **Yup. Jaune got a weapon upgrade and Coral's has yet to be revealed. I figured since he was attended Signal, it would be stupid if he didn't have some sort of advantage compared to his super lame/not strong one in cannon. And what's better than a gun.**


	6. What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger

**And here's chapter 6.**

 **I'll be adding chapter titles from here on out, and probably naming the previous ones as well.**

 **Also, there are fight scenes/dying scenes in this so leave a review and tell me if I did them justice.**

* * *

What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger

* * *

"Everybody, scatter and run for the exit!"

The caves walls widened greatly around the bend, allowing for plenty of space for a giant Death Stalker. The only reason they had not encountered it earlier was the much narrower paths from which they came.

 _We can't retreat now. We would never reach the temple in time._

"My rounds aren't damaging it, its shell is too thick." Yang shouted, dodging under a blow and firing of a few more shots.

"Don't fight it. We have a significant disadvantage in this darkness. Just run around it and try not to die. If we can escape to the forest we might have a chance of taking it down." Coral called out, everyone ceasing their attacks and focusing on speed.

"There's the exit!" Her brother pointed to the exit with his sword.

Ruby was the first to taste fresh air, followed by herself and then the other two soon after.

Coral sighed as she sped through the forest, the lack of armor allowing her speeds only bested by Ruby and her semblance. She ducked under a branch, constantly looking back to make sure Jaune and Yang were still okay.

They fared decently, but Jaune had started to cough as he struggled to keep up with the armor-less ones of the group. The Death Stalker was not far behind them, though, bulldozing everything in its path and didn't look to be running out of gas any time soon.

 _Grimm don't need anything to survive, so it makes sense that they wouldn't, or couldn't, feel exhaustion._

They, on the other hand, would not be able to keep up this pace for much longer. They couldn't hide either with the Death Stalker destroying everything in its path.

"There's the temple!" Ruby gasped, forcing herself to push her semblance even harder. "We can grab the relics and then run back to the cliffs."

"Maybe you can, but I don't think the rest of can hold out for much longer." Jaune explained breathily, clearly fatigued.

"There's some people ahead." Coral pointed out, catching a flash of bright red hair along with a few other figures. "It's Pyrrha and some others."

"Pyrrha! Jaune cried out, the champion looking to acknowledge them.

"Jaune! Why are you so out of breath?" He didn't bother responding, or perhaps just didn't have the breath, as he reached the four new combatants with his hands on his knees, taking deep breaths.

Coral noticed the relics. They were chess pieces, ten gold and ten black sitting on pedestals.

"We're being chased by a—" Yang was cut off as the monster lumbering behind them barreled through the trees and into the clearing, sending splinters and pieces of wood everywhere.

"Is that… a Death Stalker?" The black-haired girl with a bow piped up.

"Yes, we won't be able to outrun it. We need to kill it if we are to proceed." Coral quickly evaluated the situation.

 _Its shell is too hard for anything but blunt force to do any damage. If I can hit one of its eyes or its underside I can kill it, but it's moving too fast…_

"How the hell are we going to kill it? It's too damn strong. At least we can die together." Yang growled at the beast.

"No, we can kill it, we have to. Yang, I need you to slow it down. Its armor may be too tough to pierce, but your punches should be enough to slow it down."

"I can help too!" The ginger-haired girl added, holding her giant hammer in the air.

"On it." Yang smiled and raised her fists.

"What should the rest of us do?" The more stoic man questioned.

"Try and distract it with your long range weapons. I'll take care of it once that is done. Jaune, give Pyrrha her weapon back."

"What? No way sister, she'll just backstab you when you're not looking." Jaune turned to face the girl in question. "And you. We're finished. I thought we had a chance, but clearly I was wrong. Our relationship is finished, done, zip."

"They were in a relationship?" The black haired girl added with a raised eyebrow.

"No! And I wasn't trying to kill you, you just looked… sick, so I thought I would help you out. I was trying to save you." Pyrrha blurted out in her defense.

"By impaling me with a javelin…"

"By pinning you to a tree with a javelin."

"Likely story…"

"Are you two _still_ arguing?" Ruby hissed, not sure which of them was worse. It was incredibly hard to focus on distracting a giant Grimm with incessant chatter behind them. "Just give her the javelin! We need all the help we can get!"

"You know what? Fine. It's your funeral." Jaune unhooked Milo from his belt and threw it at Pyrrha, who idly moved her head and grasped the weapon with one hand. Coral's eye twitched. He pointed two fingers at his eyes and then at Pyrrha's and back and forth a few times. "I'm watching you…"

Both Pyrrha and Jaune transformed their weapons into their rifle modes and fired at the monster. None of their shots really did any damage, but the Death Stalker was definitely slowed down by all the suppressing fire.

"Take this!" Yang jumped in from the front, her fist aiming straight for the bony plate on its head. Her punch impacted, slightly cracking its armor and causing it to flail. Yang smiled at her success, before the monster's tail whipped around like lightning and knocked her off into the grass close by.

"Yang, get out of the way!"

-/-

Yang cried out as she felt a sharp pain in her right thigh. Time slowed to a crawl as she glanced down to see a large feather carve its way inside her, a searing burn flaring in her leg as a crimson blush dyed her high yellow socks. She gagged, tasting blood in her mouth as tears lined her eyes and the pain intensified.

Her mind turned hazy and her vision started to blur, both from the tears and the excruciating pain.

There was another scream, but she was sure that it wasn't her. Her eyes fluttered open to find her partner in front of her, kneeling on the ground and… smiling at her. It was a small but reassuring one.

The shield that had been in his family for generations was held behind him, held with one arm. There were a dozen more feathers all implanted in Crocea Mors, but a few of them slipped past it and into Jaune. He wasn't badly wounded, his extremely large aura protecting him from the feathers, but what aura did not protect one from was pain.

And she could only imagine the pain of getting stabbed in the back of the head with a massive needle.

"Stay calm." It was her partner once again reassuring her, his smile convincing her to listen. And then with a grunt he pulled the weapon out of her thigh, the tip stained red with her blood as if it were an ink pen. Her pain flared up again causing a gasp to escape her.

She suspected it was Jaune's semblance that was preventing her from falling into unconsciousness, though at the moment she really wished it would let her.

Although, it was possible that she would bleed out if not for his semblance…

Her vision was too fuzzy to see anything anymore so she just closed her eyes and listened. Listened to the whirring of weapons and screeches from the two Grimm. After a while all the sounds seemed to just mash together into one loud white noise machine, never stopping and never slowing.

Yang felt her body being lifted up and then wrapped in warmness. Cold fingers met her face, prompting her to flinch at the touch. And then the previous unabating discomfort washed away, replaced by a soft and pleasurable sensation she'd never felt before.

The sensation disappeared after a bit, but the pain didn't return. In fact, she would've forgotten she was ever wounded if not for the blood splatter on her thigh. She could feel her strength returning to her as well, not quite enough for combat, but enough for her to feel her limbs.

She was in an upright position, her body limp in her partner's embrace. Her eyes opened to the sight of desolation. The ruined temple was now truly _ruined_. The previously dilapidated temple was now in utter disrepair; the pillars and pedestals had all been reduced to rubble and black and gold chess pieces littered the floor.

"Wh-where are the others?" Yang finally managed to get out.

"They're… still fighting. They were chased off and I stayed here to help you." She felt his warm breath tickle her ear as he whispered into her ear, squeezing her tighter at the sound of her voice.

"We have to help them." Yang wanted to. She really did, but she was too weak to even try and Jaune couldn't leave her side without knocking her out.

Being left out of a fight was not her style. She could, in theory, unleash a pretty powerful attack from all the damage she sustained, but the second she released that energy she would probably fall unconscious if Jaune wasn't there to support her.

 _I need to help. My friends could be dying for all I know and I'm here wrapped in my best friend's arms, actually enjoying myself._

"We _need_ to help them." She reiterated more forcefully this time, but it seemed her words didn't get through to him once more as he just gripped her even tighter.

She couldn't escape him even if she wanted to; she was too weak to break his hold. Part of her wanted to stay as well, his embrace was warm and comforting and _almost_ allayed her worry.

"Jaune." She tried to break him from his spell.

"Hmm?"

"We can't just wait with lives at stake. We have to help." She already knew what he was going to say even without seeing his face.

 _That she was too weak to do anything._

"You're too weak to do anything." She called it. Not that it was hard to predict the obvious reason she wasn't out there staring down death with her friends. Ruby and Coral were both strong, and what she'd heard of Pyrrha painted her as extremely competent. She made a stupid mistake of overconfidence herself, what was to say that one of them wouldn't do something similar and pay a steeper price?

"I know. That's what everyone keeps telling me…"

-/-

"Ruby, go help with the Death Stalker. I'll handle this one." Coral instructed the already distressed girl to go leave her last friend to help others. A martyr act on her part? Not really, the armor-less Nevermore was cake compared to the Death Stalker, at least for her style of fighting.

"What, and leave you to fight that one on your own!?" Ruby argued back, silver eyes following the large avian type Grimm. The girl was stubborn and for a good reason. Even though Ruby knew Coral was strong enough to defeat it, the act of leaving someone like that overshadowed good reasoning. Ruby was always like this though, never one to let someone suffer on their own. Misery loves company, right?

"Oh, it won't be much of a fight." Coral hedged, running off and leaping up a few ledges for higher ground. In the corner of her azure eyes she thought she saw Ruby wave at her, causing her to almost trip over a lip in the structure.

 _Time to focus at the task at hand Coral._ She crossed her forearms into her cloak, feeling around for her senbon and drawing them, one between her index and middle fingers in both hands.

Back at Signal, when she was asked what type of weapon she wanted to use she wasn't sure. She had originally chosen to use daggers, throwing knives, but after discovering her semblance, she immediately switched over to senbon. They had a similar style, both throwing weapons in their own rights, but her current choice was more lightweight, harder to evade, and could be thrown with greater accuracy.

Of course, senbon had their own disadvantages as well. For one, they are quite useless at melee range; even a dagger has more close-range capabilities. Mainly from its lack of any real substance, being just fifteen centimeters long and thin as a needle.

Armor was another disadvantage. No matter which weapon she chose. Being a hit-and-run sort of tactic, she needed to be able to land a cut and wait her opponent out. Unless the person is wearing a literal suit of armor, however, there were always weak points.

Against the other students at Signal, the senbon would pierce the skin and allow her poison to enter their bloodstream so even after aura seals the wound, the toxins remains.

It would wear off after a while, of course, the person's aura slowing pushing it from the body. But a process like that takes time, not to mention the victim's movements and reaction speeds are significantly slowed during that period.

That was when her other weapon came in. It was a simple enough idea; slow the opponent down and then easily finish them off with something stronger.

A katana. A katana Coral so fittingly named Crocea Vita, a rather simplistic weapon made from chromium for a durable and light weapon. Not very strong against a healthy opponent, but that's not what she used it for.

The enemy of humanity since the dawn of time, Grimm, were even easier. They were mindless. At least most were. Grimm that have lived for tens and hundreds of years have been known to show intelligence instead of running in blind at the first scent of human flesh. But for your typical soulless monster, a single senbon and a swing of Crocea Vita was enough.

She'd never fought bigger Grimm such as this one, but in principle it would be the same. It would probably take more poison and time to slow something so as ginormous, but it was a larger target so landing hits shouldn't be too hard.

Coral jumped atop a ruined platform at the top of some columns with her weapons in hand. She took a deep breath and adopted a battle stance, staring into the eyes of the approaching Nevermore.

She let the first needle leave her right hand towards the giant monster as it pierced its wing. It didn't slow its assault, still coming at full speed towards the framework on which she stood.

She got in a few more senbon before the Nevermore shattered the structure. She sprung at a falling piece of rubble, latching on to it before swiftly pushing herself off to another one. She serpentined to a different castle like structure that was decorated ornately with intricate markings and symbols.

 _Why the hell is such a place even in a forest?_ She thought, but was dispelled by a threatening roar from the Grimm

She actually felt kind of bad destroying such a historical, sacred, and architecturally impossible seeming structure.

The Nevermore circled back around towards her. She attacked it as it headed straight for her this time rather than the pillars supporting the platform. She placed her hand on its head as it rammed into where she just stood, allowing her to cartwheel on to the beasts back. She dug her fingers into its feathers to hold on, the Grimm accelerating through the air.

Coral drew Crocea Vita from her belt as the Nevermore slowed while it turned to avoid crashing into the canyon cliffs.

" _Die!"_ Crimson blood splattered on her clothing as she thrust her sword into its back with both of her hands. She used her weight to push the blade's entirety into the monster's back causing it to cry and buck in pain.

The poison injected into something by her weapon was measured by surface area. Her senbon could only pierce the skin at the tip, distributing a small amount. Her katana, on the other hand, used the full length of the metal against the Nevermore, allowing thousands more to be effective.

Still, against such a large creature it wasn't quite fatal, but its wings flapped noticeably slower, inducing descent.

Coral twisted her sword loose from its stone, the blade dyed dark red. Blood dripped from the weapon in droplets, falling to the wind as the Grimm flipped its self upside-down. She braced herself with Crocea Vita stuck in the giant creature's side and held onto the hilt with both hands as the Nevermore struggled to shake her loose.

The monster headed straight for the crevasse walls either from lack of control or in an attempt to crush her. She conceded to dropping off the bird before that, wiggling her katana from the Grimm's flesh. Red tainted her hair as the weapon that was acting as a plug was pulled free and fresh blood oozed out after her mid-fall.

She fixed herself for a landing, her aura level falling along with her as she hit the concrete bridge hard. A shower of blood followed, dying her already blood red attire just a shade darker.

She would have to take a long bath after this. And do some laundry.

Coral staggered a bit as she pushed down on the ground as to lift herself onto her two feet. She brought her sleeve up to her eyes and wiped them clean, or at least enough to allow her to see clearly.

She could feel that her aura levels were low. She hadn't taken any direct hits from either of the two Grimm, but between exhaustion and the multiple times she used her aura to break her falls, her aura had started to approach the red.

She never had a large aura like Jaune's to begin with, but hers at full health was even lower than average. It made her a glass-cannon of sorts, also prompting her to take up a stealthier role, hence her dagger choice. It fit in well with her semblance at least, but having less energy to expend and less damage to be taken was a nuisance sometimes.

From what she researched aura levels weren't hereditary. Aura is still a mystery to mankind, but it is known that it's the manifestation of one's soul. She wasn't sure what that said about her, but no one had more heart when it came to protecting her twin.

She learned to be more conservative over the years at Signal when engaging in combat. Her tactics almost never required her to get in range of a close ranged weapon and many years of training taught her how to dodge extremely well.

Though just one punch from Yang and she was as good as done.

The wind whipped at her hair and tugged on her cloak as Coral sped across the bridge. Her shoulder ached with every stride, and exhaustion dragged at her limbs, but she pushed forward, coaxing every bit of energy she could from her battered body. She clutched Crocea Vita close as she wheeled towards the grounded Grimm.

She slipped effortlessly by a barrage of feathers that were thrown lazily and her katana sparked against the concrete bridge with a screech as she shouted out from all the adrenaline. The enemy's four red eyes seemed to lock in on her with a growl as to ward her off. She payed no attention to its desperate attempts as she brought her blade up in an arc and stabbed it into the underside of its maw.

The Grimm cried out in pain at such close proximity, prompting her to cover her ears to prevent her eardrums from breaking. The monster's breath created a powerful whirlwind that caused her to stagger back and her cloak to billow.

The Nevermore's wings were effectively pinned down by the poison, but it still tried to flap them as shown by its flailing. It stopped it struggling and instead headbutted her with its armor-like headguard. She was caught off-guard by its attack and was thrown back a few yards.

Coral yelped when she felt pain rise in her as she tried to move her limbs to escape from the crawling Grimm. Her will gave out to the intensifying pain and the Nevermore inched ever closer.

She whimpered in the face of death.

It wasn't so much the act of dying itself nor the thought of being eaten alive. Yet her eyes still lined themselves with tears.

There was still so much left for her to do and so many people to help. So much left to protect...

Her hope had all but given out when fate decided to spare her. Her eyes fluttered open and she caught a red flash in the corner of her blue orbs and a whir through the wind. The sound of tearing flesh struck her ears followed by the rapid fire of gunshots and the screeching from the assailed Grimm.

 _She was being saved._

It felt horrible. The newfound guilt was almost enough to overpower the constant pain that coursed through her body.

The figure she saw for that half a second was unmistakably her partner. The shots fired and the scattered petals only served to further that. What made it hurt was that she was too over-confident. She had cast Ruby away because she believed she could handle this fight on her own. And now, when she held on by the end of her rope, she rescued her.

She wrestled those thoughts out of her mind as the resounding screams stopped in an instant, and Crescent Rose sang as it was torn free from blood and gore.

The Nevermore's decapitated head fell from its body, rolling to lay next to her prone figure. She jerked her head sideways to stare into the lifeless eyes of the slain creature, before it disintegrated, dark miasma released into the air were it once was.

Crocea Vita clanked as it fell to the ground, forming a pool of scarlet to surround the katana.

Ruby twirled her scythe with a flourish back into its most compactible form, at the same time cleaning her weapon of all the impurities. "Coral! Are you alright!?" Her partner questioned worriedly, running up to her.

She leaned in to touch her, but then reeled her hand back at her slightest flinch. "I-I'm fine. Thank you Ruby." Coral strained a heartfelt smile on, even through her lack of energy and continuous discomfort.

Ruby nodded and reached down towards her shoulder, slipping her petite hands under and supporting her up. A searing pain shot through her when she was moved, but she viciously forced it down.

She felt dazed and weak, her vision blurring and her knees threatening to buckle. She, with Ruby's help, was able to stand fully up, but the strength in her legs was almost gone. She leaned on the small girl, who was stronger than she appeared - no doubt from lugging a giant scythe around everywhere - and pressed forward. Every step was a challenge, but all challenges were meant to be overcome, and so she fueled herself on will alone, not wanting to have to be carried all the way back to Beacon.

 _Ah right... the cliffs._ Coral had no idea how she was going to get up the side of the cliffs, but she would cross that bridge when they got there.

"Can you make it back to the temple? We need to grab our artifacts."

"Yes."

 _No._ She desperately wanted to say, giving in to her weakness, and to be carried home and not go through this hell. But she couldn't bring herself to give up that easily. Not if she was to protect those she loved. What doesn't kill you can only make you stronger, right?

* * *

Ruby supported Coral's weight on her shoulder, clenching her teeth to avoid screaming out from the ache in her shoulder. Coral was light compared to a drunken Yang, but her fight with the Death Stalker had worn her aura down to lower levels than she was willing to admit. She already had to push her semblance harder than ever before just to reach Coral in time, and that hurt like hell.

Her semblance was a dangerous thing to use at that time indeed. She was too disoriented and fatigued to even keep up with the speed she forced herself to achieve.

Ruby's semblance was a part of her and she used it regularly, which meant that her mind and body were well adapted to the super-human speeds. But her reflexes were too slow with her aura in the red so she just deployed Crescent Rose and aimed towards the Nevermore. She was completely inattentive to what was happening once she activated her semblance; there was a good chance that if she missed she would have fallen into the bottomless pit, not to mention leaving Coral to die a painful death. She grimaced at the thought.

Her breath was sucked from her lungs when she stopped short, not realizing she had caught her weapon on the monsters neck, and when she finally did, she fired her sniper-rifle with no restraint, no doubt overheating it from such rapid semi-automatic fire.

Though it seemed Lady Luck was on her side for once as she was successful in her rescue operation.

Ruby hid her soreness and propelled herself forward, dying to get off the bridge that she felt like she would just collapse off if they took another step. She wanted to talk to Coral, to say something, but she decided to let her break the silence, not wishing to showcase her loquacious nature at such a time.

She finally did, but her voice was sorrow and filled with guilt and regret, no doubt from having to be saved by her. "I-I'm sorry Ruby… I'm not deserving of your partnership. I'm too lost that I think I can take on the world by myself, and… I would only drag you down if we stayed together." Ruby internally cursed. Partners are supposed to help each other. She just wanted Coral to know that they should work together from now on, that she didn't have to do things on her own. Everyone needs a hand once in a while.

But not wanting to be her partner anymore hurt. She could understand the reasoning behind it, even if it was the worst reason she had ever heard.

Coral had a difficult past, she knew that. And somewhere Ruby felt she had to help her with that, to comfort her. They had both experienced loss, and perhaps, both also felt partly responsible, however far off that was. She knew she did. Maybe that was why she was drawn to Coral in the forest, was this fate messing with her life again?

When she looked at Coral she felt admiration, melancholy, and pity. She didn't want to feel pity for her; she knew how strong was. She had to be. The girl had lost her entire family, her stability and peace of mind, and almost her life.

She didn't like to compare such tragic events, but Summer dying wasn't even akin to what Coral had suffered. She loved her mother more than anything for sure, and nightmares still haunted her during gloomy times, but she still had Taiyang and Yang. Coral had Jaune too, and Ruby was sure that was the only explanation for why she lived her life.

Ruby knew if something like that happened to her, she would never have the courage to stay the road of a huntress.

"No."

"What? I'll only br—"

"I said no. You still owe me for saving your life, and I'll be cashing that in. You _have_ to be my partner for the rest of our time here at Beacon. You _will_ stay here at Beacon." It was a bit selfish and underhanded, and totally unlike Ruby, but there was no way in hell she would let Coral fall just because she was hating on herself. Ruby would make her stay, and see the beauty in herself, no matter what they went through. Someone had to….

"If that's what you want…" Coral was always aloof and stoic, but now she seemed even more somber and grim than usual.

"Yes. Yes it is. You will stay at Beacon and you _will_ try your hardest to enjoy it." Ruby had to be steadfast now. She would never hold her service over Coral's head, she wasn't that cruel, but Ruby was doing this for her own good. No one could fault her for this.

"I see. Then I will stay your partner… and do my best to enjoy it." Ruby was a bit disappointed at her lackluster enthusiasm, but she was fairly sure she could change that with some time and effort.

"Now that that's settled, we should find Jaune and Yang. They're probably still at the temple, which is not too far from here." Ruby lightened the mood as they stepped foot on the grassy land off the bridge.

"Okay…"

She would have a lot of work to do.

* * *

 **And fight scenes finished! Initiation is finally done and we can get started at their time at Beacon. If anyone wonders why the Grimm were, like, so OP in this, it's because of there age. It is almost explicitly stated in the show that both the Death Stalker and the Nevermore have probably been around for hundreds of years, and for green freshman to take both down... yeah, not gonna happen in this.**

 **Also, was anyone else overjoyed and super depressed at Ren's past? (Sorry if you haven't watched it yet, but that wasn't really a spoiler so...)**

 **Don't forget to leave a review!**


	7. Settling In

**Not much to say right now... just read and review! Also, everything is cross posted on Archive Of Our Own.**

* * *

Settling In

* * *

Jaune's mind began to stray from optimistic thoughts as he visualized the worst. Coral, limping towards him with a red streak running down her forehead. She was cradling Ruby, who lay lifeless and peaceful, smiling blissfully as she was taken by the sweet release of death. Coral fell to her knees, beautiful blonde hair tainted with crimson veiling her azure eyes that were filled with contrition. And then her own strength would give out and she would join Ruby on the ground, blood circumscribing them as she mouthed the words _"I'm sorry"_ to him.

His eyes that were as wide as saucers fell relaxed as he was snapped back into reality. Yang's shoulder had been soaked, darkening the already tan vest when he noticed the tears that had been cascading down from his eyes. Yang hadn't said anything – she must have thought it was fit to cry at a time like this, which it most assuredly was. Yang was the only thing that was stopping him from running after Coral and Ruby; she was in no position to fight and he wasn't going to leave her at the risk of her condition deteriorating.

The two of them had been in the same area for a while, repositioning a few times as to not be so awkward. They still cuddled most of the time, only separating when Jaune had to dispatch the occasional Beowolf or Ursa that was foolish enough to try and exploit them. Few words were spoken while they waited for Coral and Ruby to meet up here like they promised.

Jaune almost dropped Yang, who was slack in his arms, when he espied Coral and Ruby emerge from the trees. His face blanched as he eyed his sister, supported by the younger girl, every inch of her body drenched in blood and her clothes tattered. Yang must have noticed his surprise as she turned her head to see what he was looking at. Her expression replicated his own, equal parts surprise and relief.

"Coral! Ruby!" Jaune shouted and turned to Yang, who nodded as he set her down on the grass to go assist the two as they hobbled towards where Yang and he were.

He approached a faltering Ruby and allowed her to slip Coral into his arms. Ruby continued past him towards her own sister before her legs gave way by her.

"Jaune…" His sister muttered.

"Are you okay!? What happened!?"

"We fought the Nevermore and… killed it." Coral replied with hesitation.

Jaune didn't want to lecture her on anything right now. Melancholy stirred in the air surrounding them, and more Grimm were probably on their way right now. He wished she wasn't so reckless though – her and Ruby. From the outside, excusing the pints of blood that were obviously not hers, she didn't look too bad. There were no obvious cuts or external injuries on her body.

Though, Jaune knew her aura was low and it was apparent that she took some sort of blunt force. That coupled with exhaustion from fighting and it was clear why she could barely move. He swept her off her no doubt tired feet and carried her as if he was under a threshold, walking back to where Ruby and Yang laid.

Coral and Ruby already seemed to be recovering, their aura's natural regeneration powers along with his semblance allowing for a quick recuperation. He estimated that they would have the strength to be able to walk back to Beacon in a few minutes or so. Yang was worse off. The poison from the Death Stalker appeared to be a paralyzing type venom. The wasp-like stinger on the Grimm seemed to be designed to incapacitate its prey, before eating them utilizing its pincers. A baffling construct considering Grimm, as far as is known, don't need sustenance of any form to survive.

Yang's aura essentially canceled the poison out; her aura was not recovering but was rather stable at a certain level, while her leg wound was as though a civilian was the victim. Jaune's semblance only helped to stop the bleeding and alleviate the pain, it did nothing to give her the strength to stand on her own two feet.

So Jaune rested Coral by the other two girls and kept watch, Crocea Mors drawn in case a Grimm was lured by the negativity emanating from the four students. He decided that they would continue to recharge their batteries until Coral and Ruby had enough energy to fight, seeing as he would be too occupied carrying Yang up the side of a mountain to engage any Grimm.

Jaune sat cross-legged on the forest floor next to the three girls, leaning his head against his fist that clutched his weapon. He was the only one unharmed of the four of them. He, whether it was because he was the oldest or because he was the only male, felt responsible. Responsible for them _and_ their protection. He saved Yang's life, yes, but he should have been there earlier. He shouldn't have let her be harmed in the first place. And Coral and Ruby – he should have yelled at them until they listened instead of permitting them to fight in such a suicide-like mission. They could have been killed!

And yet he had come out unscathed. Part of him wanted to have some scar to show for, but no. He was in near perfect condition, aura levels still green no doubt, suffering not even a scratch from a stray branch or something. He'd never actually seen any of his friends hurt this badly before. The incident four years ago was worse overall in terms of Coral's health, and he had never seen Yang or Ruby with anything more than a bruises or cuts from sparring.

Jaune didn't think he would be able to stand it should one of them be injured at such magnitude again. He didn't care for his well-being, but those that he loved and cared about were a different story. Would they even be able to become hunters? If this is what they had to endure every time? He honestly doubted it, but he also doubted that each battle would be so difficult as well. They would be constantly improving at Beacon and from what he knew, those two Grimm had been very experienced, likely survivors from The Great War. The markings on the interior of the Death Stalker's cave indicated the cave's longevity, the moss growing on the Grimm's claws and torso also indicated that it had been lying dormant for a long time, not to mention the Death Stalker also had visible scars on its carapace, signifying its advanced age.

Even so, he couldn't shake the thought from his mind. It was inevitable that they would face even stronger opposition along the way, eventually, and he wanted to be prepared for the worst. They needed to stick together, stay by him. His semblance manifested in the way that it did for a reason, and he was determined to put it to good use.

Jaune knew he should wake her, but he just couldn't find it in his heart. She was curled into a ball under her cloak, with a face blessedly free of the hardships of the day, Coral just looked too peaceful. Too at rest. And yet he still needed to wake her – sitting here all day wouldn't get them closer to their goal.

"Coral." He shook her shoulder lightly, causing her to groan. Now that he thought about it, this was one of the few times he'd ever seen Coral asleep. He was too accustomed to waking up after her; he would need to change that soon. Coral blinked the sleep out of her eyes. Despite something looming over her, she still obviously felt safe, and that comforted Jaune a little bit.

"Jaune? Oh my god we need to go." Coral immediately sat up and made an attempt to stand, only to be stopped by Jaune.

"Don't worry. You've only been asleep for, like, ten minutes. You should be feeling better, right?" Jaune lied. In truth he had let them rest for a full half hour, but he didn't want to worry Coral anymore. Besides, no one could blame him for letting them sleep in, after all they were exhausted and he didn't want to interrupt her beautiful sleeping face.

"Oh… okay. I'm feeling good…" She replied while flexing her muscles to test her strength. "Yeah, I can definitely fight."

"Good. I'll need you and Ruby to cover me while I take Yang up the cliffs." He paused to place a hand on the youngest girl's shoulder. "Ruby."

"Yaang, five more minutes." Ruby griped, pulling her cloak back over her small form.

Jaune looked back to Coral, who just shrugged her shoulders. He reached towards her shoulder once more, agitating Ruby. "Ruby!" He galvanized.

"Wh-wha?" Ruby jumped, instantly reaching for Crescent Rose until Jaune intercepted her hand. "Jaune? Where are we?" Ruby rubbed her fists into her eyes, dispelling the little sleep she had acquired.

"We're in the Emerald Forest… in the middle of initiation." Ruby shot him a questioning look. "Remember? You almost died!"

"Oh yeah… that. I feel a lot better now."

"Great. Do you think you can fight?" She looked and seemed fine to him, but he just wanted to make sure.

"Of course!" She pushed herself onto her feet and deployed Crescent Rose. "See? I feel great!"

"We're going to get going now. Jaune's going to carry Yang while you and I cover him, okay?" Coral interjected, nicely laying out the plan for Ruby.

"Okay!" Ruby saluted.

Jaune went to go pick up Yang, slipping his hands beneath her back as she moaned in discomfort. She didn't awake though.

"We should grab our artifacts." Coral walked over to the circle of grey brick, dilapidated and broken. She knelt down and picked up two knight pieces that littered the ground, both gold. "These two should ensure we all land on the same team."

"Good. Everybody all ready?"Jaune felt the need to ask.

Ruby glanced around quickly. "Yup!"

Jaune nodded and accepted the chess piece from Coral, placing in Yang's hands. "Hold onto this, okay? We're almost there." Jaune reassured. Yang just groaned, but her hands closed around the relic so he assumed she could hear him, or maybe it was just an instinctual reaction.

"Now let's get back to Beacon!" Ruby cheered.

Jaune couldn't help but smile.

* * *

"Russel Thrush. Cardin Winchester. Dove Bronzewing. Sky Lark." Jaune observed the Headmaster as he addressed four muscular men. He briefly wondered why he didn't see any of them in the Emerald Forest. "The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team CRDL, led by… Cardin Winchester!"

The audience gave another wave of ovation as Pyrrha, Blake, Ren, and Nora – he learned their names shortly after initiation - walked up to the stage. None of them had been seriously injured by the Death Stalker, and all had gotten off with minor wounds that were treated by aura. His own friends weren't quite as lucky.

Coral and Ruby ended up fine after a bit of rest, and Yang was admitted into the infirmary. They gave her some drugs that Jaune assumed were anti-venoms or aura-enhancers or something. That at least helped to ease his worries a bit, but he couldn't bear to look when the nurse injected them into his partner. Thank god Yang wasn't conscious at the time, because they looked like they would hurt like hell. Luckily, the Headmaster gave everyone an hour before the ceremony, which was enough for Yang to fully recover. Her injuries were minor overall anyway, and the venom was completely non-fatal.

"Blake Belladonna. Lie Ren. Pyrrha Nikos. Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RPBN." Nora laughed and hugged Ren, while Pyrrha and Blake just smiled. "Led by… Lie Ren!

The four of them exited the stage through a cheering audience, and Nora was constantly chattering about Ren's appointment as team leader. Miss Goodwitch ushered him, Coral, Yang, and Ruby towards the platform. Jaune walked with poise, proud but not arrogant, suave but cool. He could tell his new partners were very excited as well, but they hid in well, smiling confidently. Even Ruby, surprisingly, seemed to conceal her no doubt thrilled emotions as she walked very maturely.

"And finally: Jaune Arc. Ruby Rose. Coral Arc. Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will be known as Team CRAL. Led by… Coral Arc." Jaune smiled. He looked to his left to see a surprised Coral. He wasn't all that surprised that she was chosen to be honest. Yang was too hot-headed and emotional to lead, and Ruby was too young and inexperienced. He was a natural-born leader, but his more defensive role didn't suit team leader. Either way he was happy for her; she was smart and strong, and everyone respected her. _I can't imagine a better leader to tell the truth._

"Way to go Coral!" Ruby supported, but Coral wasn't convinced of her propriety for the position.

"Yeah Coral, you'll make a great leader!" Yang added while patting his sister on the back.

"I… will?" Coral turned to him with a curious look as if she was asking for his approval. He, of course, completely approved. She would make a great leader.

"Yang's right. You'll be a great leader." Coral nodded. Apparently his word was enough encouragement and persuasion to get her to agree with the Headmaster's decision. And it was a good decision.

* * *

"This is our dorm room." Jaune looked up from the map he held and pointed to their presumed dorm room. It was a white door with a simple design, perfectly symmetrical, with a gold knob and rosette that housed a built-in electronic lock, which could be disengaged using a student's scroll. "Here goes." Jaune slowly rotated the doorknob as if he were to find something horrifying on the other side.

" _Today_ , if at all possible." Yang sarcastically stated, pushing Jaune aside and opening the door herself.

Coral was impressed. The room was immaculate and came with four beds and desks, with a round rug in the center. The beds were separated by a small bookcase that sat under a window drawn with velvet curtains, two on each side. There were two doors on each side, which she inspected. They were both closets, which extended quite far in, plenty of room for four students.

"Wow, this is awesome! It's already furnished and everything." It was Ruby who spoke this time as she plopped down on the bed second from the left, dropping her suitcase on the floor next to it. "This bed's so soft!"

"I must agree. This is a very palatial room." Ruby just shot her a puzzled look, her vocabulary not quite as extensive as Coral's.

"She just means it's fancy or luxurious." Yang rephrased Coral's comment in a more simplistic manner, Ruby mouthing her understanding. "Though I am concerned. I mean, I don't want Jaune perving on us while we're changing. Shouldn't we have some sort of curtain dividing him off or something?"

"Hey! I'm right here. And I wouldn't do that, jeez." Jaune crossed his arms and pouted.

"Yeah, right. Even if I did believe you, it's just awkward." Yang had a point. Jaune and she did share a room at Signal, and it was nowhere near as spacious as Beacon's. So while Coral did trust that Jaune wouldn't peep if they told him not to, Yang and perhaps even Ruby would be uncomfortable with the situation. Honestly she was surprised such a controversial arrangement would still be enforced.

 _Then again, we are a team for the next four years so…_

She figured it was some sort of " _You're going to be with each other for the next four years. Deal with it."_ kind of thing.

"Why don't you just go to the bathroom every time you want to change?"

"That's like, out in the hall. I don't want to have to leave the room just to change."

 _Speaking of bathrooms…_ Coral thought, and then left the two to bicker and Ruby to innocently watch the quarrel to go survey their bathroom. It was quite inconvenient that it wasn't attached to the room itself, and considering it was a personal bathroom it didn't exactly make sense. Either way she inserted her scroll in the lock, causing it to click and unlock. The bathroom was also pristine. A vanity console filled the area first-entered, with a one piece toilet further down to the left. More to the left was the shower stall with a glass sliding door and a handheld shower head, filled with a variety of exotic soaps and shampoos. Also co-ed.

She re-entered their dorm room to find Yang and Jaune, still butting heads. It wasn't at all surprising – they used to all the time - and it was a legitimate topic.

"Coral. Tell her we don't need to put up a curtain. We're going to have to be a team for the next four years and we'll have to learn how to trust and respect each other." Jaune tried to get her involved in the conversation. And she had to admit that that was the same conclusion she arrived at so…

"Jaune _does_ have a point…" She said unsurely, not wishing to side with anyone, or be part of their argument at all.

"Coral! You're supposed to side with me! Have you been living with him so long his perverseness rubbed off on you too?" Yang sniped. It wasn't her reason at all. Whether it was her who was uncomfortable or not, Jaune had a strong reason to back him up and Yang had nothing other than awkwardness. And she was pretty sure he wasn't all that perverted. Not any more than a normal seventeen year old boy, and her own perverseness was definitely not influenced by anything Jaune did.

"I don't think it works that way…" Coral said dumbly, dodging her point. Lilac eyes glared at her knowingly until Ruby rescued her.

"We shouldn't fight… we still have to unpack and it's almost ten." Ruby sheepishly interrupted, swaying nervously.

Coral sighed. "She's right. Let's get these suitcases unpacked and then go to bed. We have an early day tomorrow." They would need all there rest, no doubt classes at Beacon were both valuable and excruciating at the same time.

"Fine. We'll finish this later." Yang spun on her feet in a revolted manner, lustrous golden tresses flowing behind her. Jaune scoffed.

"Let's start decorating!" Ruby fist pumped in the air and motioned for everyone to do the same.

"First, let's decide which beds we're to each have. Since Ruby seemed to have already claimed that one," Coral pointed to the bed Ruby sat on while formulating a plan. It was just the kind of person she was: methodical, quick-witted, and a bit of a perfectionist - maybe. A micro manager, a title Jaune bestowed her long ago. It was a bit degrading to be honest, but she couldn't argue with facts, and Jaune didn't really mean it in that way. "Jaune and I will take these two on the right, with Jaune farthest to the right, and Yang will have the one next to Ruby. Sound good?"

"Not that I'm disagreeing with your choice sis, but Yang and I are partners. Shouldn't we have beds next to each other?" Jaune questioned. She briefly thought about, and indeed they should be next to each other, but Yang and he tend to tear at each other's throats when she wasn't there to intervene. It most certainly wasn't because _she_ wanted to be next to him, was it? Either way it seemed like a bad idea. Then again, they are partners and should form a stronger bond, even though they were already great friends, and it would also allow her to do the same with Ruby, which she should…

Yang didn't bother disagreeing with Jaune's suggestion. Her grin told her that she knew what Coral would choose. And she was tempted to just refute his suggestion. The choice _was_ technically hers as team leader and the others would have to listen to whatever bed allocation she decided…

 _Should I stay next to Jaune, and do what I want to do. Or should I do what is best for Jaune, and the team as whole._ She never in a million years would have guessed that she would expend so much energy deciding who sleeps where. But she came to a verdict. She would swap places with Yang. Jaune deserves the best, and if this was the best way to do it, then so be it. It felt a little bad that he was the reason for her choice and not the team, which _should_ be first and foremost in her mind.

She cared about her whole team a lot as well, of course. Ruby and Yang had definitely grown on her over the years, and she cared about them the most after her twin. They were like family to her. Hell, they were practically her family. The four of them were like one big happy family, albeit a dysfunctional, dangerous, and probably a little crazy one. They all had their differences, but they all suffered, and that was no doubt the reason they banded together. It was sad to think about it in that light, but also very heartwarming. They all looked to each other for support, divided they would all fall, but together they built a firm foundation, however crazy that sounded.

"I've decided… that I will swap beds with Yang."

Yang's grin died an ugly death at the word "swap", and she quickly tried to argue against the idea. "What!? Bu-but—"

Coral cut her off with an outstretched palm. " _I_ am the leader of Team CRAL, and therefore I get to make the decisions for lowly disputes such as this. And _I_ have decided to sleep next to Ruby." Ruby's eyes lit up as she apparently liked the idea of sleeping next to her, and Yang conceded. Coral was starting to like being team leader…

"Well then," Jaune slapped his hands on his knees and rose to his feet. "We need to get decorating."

 _Problem solved._

* * *

"Monsters! Deeeemons… Prowlers of the night! Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as _prey_! Ha-ha!" It was nine-thirty, and Ruby was on the cusp of entering dream land, until a loud Ursai-like noise snapped her out of it… and then she realized it was just Professor Port.

He was… boring, to say the least. Ruby had come to class eager to learn new things about being a professional Huntsman, like Professor Port, but was instead shafted with dull and outlandish tales that he _supposedly_ fought his way through. Like the one where he fought off a scary ninja empire to defend a wizened old dragon. Yeah, totally believable.

Cricket-filled silence permeated the air as a result of the teacher's super Grimm-like laugh, and Ruby noticed Yang chortle, which she passed off as a cough.

"Uhhhh… And you shall too, upon graduating from this prestigious academy! Now, as I was saying: Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world! Our planet is absolutely teeming with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces! And that's where we come in. Huntsman! Huntresses…" The professor slowed to spare Yang a wink, which she groaned uncomfortably at.

 _Great. He's boring and he's definitely over thirty so he's a creeper. Just great._

"Individuals who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves! From what, you ask? Why, the _very world_!" A student raised his fist in the air and yelled something unrecognizable. It almost sounded like a war cry. Or a dying animal. After the brief respite, he continued on.

"That is what you're training to become. But first: A story. A tale of a young, _handsome_ man… Me! When I was a boy…"

Ruby was one hundred percent sure that nothing interesting or worthwhile would come from the rest of the lessons, so she propped her head in her hand and closed her silvery eyes. His voice was like a white-noise machine. It was a bit loud and rugged, but it was constant. So her mind drifted elsewhere until she dozed off completely.

And then she was awoken… again. Professor Port had stopped talking and thrown her sleep off-balance. She wasn't sure why he stopped, but she suspected she would soon find out.

"Well then, nobody? I suppose I'll have to choose… Miss Arc! Do you think you have what it takes?" Ruby was still unsure of what was happening, but it looked as though Coral was going to put on a display of some sort.

"Yes." She heard Coral curse under her breath, too far for Port to hear.

"Well, then, let's find out!" The professor turned and gestured at a pair of glowing red eyes, encased in shadows and bound by a cage. "Step forward, and face your opponent! Go quickly and retrieve your gear. This puppy won't wait forever, haha."

Ruby now grasped what he meant. Coral was to fight a Grimm - she wasn't sure what kind - which Professor Port captured as a demonstration of her skills. That was… awesome! Coral would totally kick its butt and represent Team CRAL.

After a couple of minutes Coral returned, now sporting her usual cloak and knee-high leather boots.

"Goooo, Coral!"

"Kick its ass, sis."

"Yeah, represent teeeeam CRAL!" Ruby cheered, deciding to voice her earlier thought.

Coral didn't respond and just drew two needles, one in each hand, and stared at the Grimm's prison.

"Allllright!" Port pulled out his axe next to the cage. "Let the match… begin!" His weapon swung down and sliced off the padlock, dropping the cage door to the ground and revealing a Boarbatusk, which immediately charged towards her partner.

Coral rolled to the left and readied herself for its next move. The Grimm stood a distance away, studying her. She flung both her senbon at the same time, so fast that Ruby was sure most wouldn't even notice them, and she wouldn't have either if she wasn't using her semblance. The needle penetrated its skin on its back, causing it to yelp. The Boarbatusk leaped into the air and tucked itself into a ball, spinning rapidly in the air and landing on the ground, consistently gaining speed until it launched itself at Coral. She jumped in the air at the incoming Grimm, letting it roll past her as it unfurled to avoid rushing into the wall. And in one clean motion Coral drew Crocea Vita, severing the monster's exposed backside in two, and then sheathing her weapon once the Boarbatusk faded into dark mist.

It was as Ruby expected; a lowly Grimm such as this one would be no match for her. After all, she practically took down a Nevermore by herself, even if Ruby did finish it off.

"Bravo! Bra-vo! It appears we are indeed in the presence of a true Huntress-in-training! I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Be sure to cover the assigned readings, and… stay _vigilant_! Class dismissed!" Ruby sighed in relief to the ringing of the bell, and pushed herself up from her chair, and followed the others out of the classrooms. Jaune, Yang, and her congratulated Coral for her success on their way back to the dorm room, but she just brushed them off and said it wasn't really _anything_. Maybe not, but it was still an impressive display.

* * *

"Whatcha doing Coral?" Ruby inquired Coral, who was watching something on her scroll.

"I'm watching something." She tilted her scroll so Ruby could see. And she was a bit surprised at what she saw. Familiar red hair… "Is that… Pyrrha?"

"Yes. Do you remember when Jaune threw her javelin at her?" Ruby wasn't exactly sure where this was going, but she felt a little bad researching a potential friend.

"Yeah…"

"I noticed something. It looked like she dodged it, right?" Ruby nodded. "But she actually barely moved her head. It was the weapon that changed course."

"How does that make sense?" A semblance perhaps? One where she could alter its trajectory – that sounded plausible.

"Well, I looked at some of her old fights, and it proved my suspicion. Look," Coral pressed play on a video. It was Pyrrha, fighting against someone else with a longsword. She danced around him a bit, and then purposely left an opening. The other combatant foolishly struck then, and Pyrrha appeared to dodge it and strike back with a direct hit, winning the match. "That dodge was way too fast. And she used it on her opponent so it's not exclusive to her weapon. My guess is it's some sort of polarity semblance, though it seems it's not very strong, as she only moves it slightly."

"That makes sense… but why are you researching her. It's not like that's illegal." Ruby sat down on her own bed across from Coral's.

"We might have to fight her in practice or the Vytal festival. I make it my business to learn as much as I can about our opponents. Plus, it just intrigued me. I wanted to find out."

 _I suppose its fine then, I mean Coral was just learning more about her._

Still, it left her a bit uneasy investigating her, even if Coral's reasoning was sound.

"Come on, Miss Goodwitch's combat classes start in ten minutes, and I heard unless you want detention you shouldn't be late."


	8. Practice Matches

**Sorry for the wait! I'm probably going to get pretty busy soon also and I'll try and get once a week, but if it takes longer sorry in advance. ;)**

 **Also new cover art! Exactly how I envisioned Coral looking!**

 **Check out the artist on tumblr. As you all know ffn blocks links so close the spaces here: ifellfromtheskies .tumblr .com**

* * *

 **Cover Art:** ifellfromtheskies .tumblr .com (close the spaces)

 **Chapter 8 - Practice Matches**

* * *

"Each combatant will fight until the aura reaches the red, by ring out, or forfeit. I also have the permission to call the match should I feel the need. Now, with that said, will Mr. Arc and Mr. Winchester please come up to the stage," The blonde deputy explained as she struck a few keys into her scroll, causing Jaune and Cardin's faces to appear on the flanks of the wall behind her.

 _When did they take that picture?_ Coral briefly thought, genuinely curious where they got the profile. Mr. Winchester's image showed him sporting the men's school uniform, but her brother just wore his usual armor. Either way, she felt confident Jaune would win. And while she had never seen Cardin fight, he was overconfident and a racist bigot. Not that that meant he wasn't strong, but at first glance his weapon seemed relatively unwieldy and his pride seemed to dictate his actions more than anything. She didn't usually judge a book by its cover, but her first impression of Cardin was not pleasant.

A brief image of the Faunus girl flashed through her mind, and she couldn't help but feel sorry for her. Coral, herself, was not in the slightest bit racist and believed in the equality movement, but the majority of the population viewed them as different, as inferior. Which was completely ridiculous, as Faunus shared the exact same structure as humans except for their added animal features. And that should even be a boon, considering Faunus' special skills because of their dissimilarity. Though, perhaps that's why the two intelligent races didn't exactly get along.

Still, Coral thought that was no excuse for Cardin's behavior: outright bullying. Beacon was a Hunter's Academy, open to both humans _and_ Faunus and it still confused her as to why none of the teachers made a move to terminate the oppressive behavior. And it was clear that the teachers knew of it, and not just Cardin's scenario. Then again, that was hypocritical of her; she never tried to stop it. Neither had any of her friends or the other students.

She still wasn't sure why she didn't help the Faunus girl, but she suspected it was because such conduct had become so commonplace that it almost went unnoticed to her, and most, for that matter.

Before she could delve deeper into her reasoning, the two boys rose to the stage, and Miss Goodwitch motioned for them to take their positions.

"Good luck, Jaune!" Ruby encouraged from the sidelines, waving a flag with their team name. _No idea when she made that…_ Yang did similar, cheering him with a slightly more crude formation of words, but the point was the same.

"Fight well." Coral called. She didn't have any doubt that he would emerge victorious, but if for some reason he did lose, she would be satisfied with the best of his abilities. After all, he wasn't perfect… and neither was she. As long as he tried his hardest she would be content.

"I will place a barrier around the two of you. It will block outside noises and other distractions, however, I will be watching, so no explicit attacks intended to inflict excess harm. If both of you are ready, than we shall begin." Miss Goodwitch glanced at the two of them, awaiting a nod from both of them.

Jaune drew Crocea Mors' shield and sword, the defensive half staying at his side while the longsword trained on his opponent. Her brother exhibited an imposing figure, stern face and rugged look coming off as very intimidating. Cardin scoffed at his posture and simply swung his large mace over his right shoulder, taking a lax stance.

Coral twisted her face repulsively at Cardin's unprepared pose, taking her brother lightly. And while she was sure Jaune wouldn't fall to someone easily, she had half a mind to go poison Cardin to death. Of course she would never do that, but the urge to at least mess him up a little tempted her like never before. It would be easy too, and subtle. She might even be able to get away with it without anyone catching her.

Jaune nodded towards the egocentric chauvinist instead of Miss Goodwitch, disregarding his opponent's narcissist-like deportment, or maybe just too focused to notice.

"Pfft, a pretty boy like you is no match for me." Jaune flinched at his insult, and if Coral was right it was only because of Cardin's implication of his blondness. Jaune wasn't one to baulk at animosity, but he took pride in his natural blond hair. Though Coral couldn't help at chuckle at how cute his messy hair could be. The blond only added to the adorability factor. It almost made him look like a little boy… if she only looked above the neck. His figure wasn't quite _cute._

Coral caught Miss Goodwitch mumble something inaudibly, her lips moving but too far away to hear anything. _Too bad I didn't learn how to lip read. Maybe I should read up on that…_ With a wave of her wand a translucent barrier appeared in a dome-like shape, Coral blinking at the flash of light.

"Begin!" The blonde mistress declared as she swung her crop down, signally the start of the spar.

Jaune began his assault, rushing at Cardin from the front. He swung Crocea Mors in an arc, leading the way as Cardin blocked the simplistic strike with the hilt of his large mace. A high pitched sound assailed the spectators, due to the collision, trailed by screeching as the two weapons locked against each other. It was obvious that Cardin had superior strength in terms raw power, but Coral was sure that even as Jaune's sword was being pushed back, he would be able to counter it.

A smile grew on Cardin's face as he used his weight to push his opponent back even more, but, as Coral predicted, Jaune circumvented defeat by slipping under the large mace as he let his sword fall to the floor, causing Cardin to stumble a bit at the force. Before Cardin could react, Jaune slammed his shield into his face from the right with a hook, stepping back as he recovered his sword.

"Go Jaune!" Ruby whispered next to her, completely focused on the match as she cupped her cheeks with her hands.

"Lucky shot." The smirk that was formerly on Cardin's face fell to a frown as he rubbed the side of his head. The hologram with Cardin's aura level had dropped to about sixty-five percent, not enough to slow his arrogance, apparently.

Jaune's blow had Cardin start taking the match more seriously, as shown by his more ready stance. A series of explosive blasts were discharged as Cardin's weapon impacted the ground in front of him, aiming towards Jaune. He simply rolled to the side and charged at Cardin, shield brushing off consecutively fired dust rounds.

"Hah, Rargh!" Jaune punctuated each swing with a grunt or shout, each motion exhibiting fluidity and practiced ease. Cardin struggled to keep up with his superior speed, barely blocking the more dangerous blows that stormed him. It took until Cardin's aura was just nearing the red zone – from stray hits that were failed to block, slowly chipping away – until he changed tactics to swinging his mace in a circle. The first revolution knocked Jaune back as he barely caught the flanged weapon on his shield, causing Ruby to jump in her seat. Shots were fired randomly as Cardin spun in a loop - the translucent force field flicker at each round. It kept Jaune at bay for a bit as he kept his shield up for any that happened to come his way.

After a bit, Jaune finally decided to take action, hopefully because he concocted a plan. Coral had noticed the pattern; Cardin was simply spamming the trigger so it was easy to know the right time to strike. Still, it would be hard for her brother to attack, as even Crocea Mors' shield would be knocked back at the current force of Cardin.

Immediately after Jaune blocked a Burn Dust round he charged towards the revolving Cardin, letting Crocea Mors slide down from his arm and into his hand, fingers clenching the brace. With the flick of a wrist, Cardin fell down to one knee from the resourceful blow to his shin, his mace also falling to his side. Cardin growled as he struggled to rise to his feet, placing both hands on the edge of the hilt.

Crocea Mors struck against Cardin's armored shoulder, a light blow as to not injure him. Cardin's face twisted at the final hit, hissing as his aura slowly dropped and Jaune pressured into the upper joint of his arm. It was enough to push his aura fully into the red, though, as a buzzer sounded and flash of light flickered as the two competitors lost their green tint. A round of applause washed over the crowd, including the other two members of Team Coral applauding louder than the rest.

"That's enough!" Professor Goodwitch interrupted, calling the match as she stepped into the middle of the stage while tapping her tablet. "Students, as you can see, Mr. Winchester's aura has now dropped into the red. In a tournament-styled duel, this would indicate that Cardin is no longer fit for battle, and that the official may call the match."

"Fucking son of a bitch! I'll get you back for that." Jaune simply walked off the stage as Cardin growled. A bit conceited maybe, but at least he didn't rise to the bait.

"Cardin! Detention, at eight. And I recommend you not be so predictable. Should you have varied your attack cycle, Mr. Arc wouldn't have been able to penetrate your defenses so easily. And Mr. Arc, your unconventional method could've been thwarted if Mr. Winchester was more prepared." Jaune turned and nodded towards the blonde referee in acknowledgement and Cardin walked back to his team in dejection and frustration.

Jaune received a slap on the back from Yang upon his return and Ruby gave him a small hug.

"You did well." Coral pitched in. It was true. The last shield move was quite impressive all things considered, and Jaune only lost a small chunk of his unnaturally large aura whereas Cardin's was mostly exhausted. In the corner of her eye she caught a smug grin on Cardin's face, but she brushed it off as something else. Refocusing on her brother, she smiled and added another compliment to his _friendly_ spar.

"Yeah, if you didn't pulverize that piece of shit here I don't know if he would ever stop." Yang flicked her hair back and glanced towards the man in question, a scornful look on her face. Ruby mimicked something similar, a loathing look adorned. Though, Coral had a feeling that just because Jaune beat him in a casual spar, he wasn't going to give up his abusive tendencies. No, something so trivial wouldn't stop him from his twisted sense of enjoyment.

"I don't think he'll stop just because he lost to Jaune." Coral voiced her thoughts, earning a frown from Ruby. And once she thought about it more, it would probably only make it worse. Cardin would come back harder and perhaps for their team specifically. She would do well to keep an eye on him; that complacent grin like a Cheshire cat was likely some sort of scheme being plotted. "In fact, he'll probably bounce back even more contemptible than before."

"It's disgusting. I should go over there and beat some sense into him." Yang cracked her knuckles and activated her equipped Ember Celica, the desire clearly burning in her eyes.

"Don't bother. You'll just get in trouble for it and he still won't stop." Jaune said regrettably, holding an arm out in front of his partner and shaking his head towards the ground. Ruby let out a tiny whimper. Yang slammed her fist against the wall in her derailment and retracted her gauntlets.

"Jaune, we have to do _something_." Jaune opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Miss Goodwitch. She called out a few more matches. Nora got to compete in one and every one finally got to see Blake be more expressive than usual.

"It seems we still have time for one more match. Hmm… Miss Arc and Miss Nikos. Would you mind stepping up to the stage?" Miss Goodwitch asked with a bored expression and tone. It wasn't really a question though, a rhetorical one. She was pretty sure the professor wouldn't appreciate it if someone refused. Clearly this was something she did frequently and the novelty of watching two students spar had faded. Though Pyrrha! Coral honestly didn't expect the two of them to get pit against each other so fast. She had prepared for combat class, but not for _The Invincible Girl_! She was fighting Pyrrha _"Freakin'"_ Nikos so she couldn't afford to get complacent just because she knew her moves. After all, she knew her tactics and her semblance, but she didn't have a clue on how to counter them.

Pyrrha adjusted her bronze circlet headpiece, emerald teardrops dangling below her ears, as she armed her weapons on her back and strode over to the stage. Coral couldn't help but admire her outfit as her red hair and drapery flowed behind her. Not only was it quite fashionable, but the armor seemed very practical and… revealing. Very attractive. Coral was honestly surprised why she didn't have a lover or something. She was a professionally-capable, friendly, and relaxed person. She was a composed and collected individual who, despite being a celebrity, was modest and patient around people, making her very sociable.

And hot.

Coral almost didn't want to admit it for some unknown reason, but she could see why Jaune would be attracted to her. Vibrant red hair, beautiful green eyes, and her décolleté-like armor, not to mention her legs…

Basically everything that she wasn't. And she had seen her talking with Jaune earlier. It seemed as though they made up from their earlier _altercation._ Pretty soon Pyrrha would probably be replacing her…

And that was why she needed to be win. She needed to beat that pretty little face in to prove that she was the strongest. Surely it wasn't because she was _jealous_. There was no way she wanted to mess up her face because of something as insignificant as envy or covetousness. Once again her selfishness was clouding her judgement, and if Jaune really did fancy Pyrrha, should she stop it? Would she commit an egotistical act such as breaking them apart, or preventing them from getting together, for her own gain?

Coral was snapped out of her musing by her partner who was waving a single hand in front of her face and prodding her side. She stood up slowly at the glare of Miss Goodwitch, and then finally remembered that she was to fight her rival. She scurried onto the stage and faced opposite Pyrrha. Pyrrha's weapons were drawn and she did the same.

"Good, you both know the rules. Begin!" The teacher's crop snapped onto her palm, magical barrier flashing to life, and Pyrrha began her assault immediately.

Miló instantly fired a multitude of shots, Pyrrha transforming it before the start of the match. A barrage of ice dust rounds beset Coral, the whizzing of bullets assailing her ears as she dodged each by incredibly small margins. A spectator might believe that she was struggling to evade them, but Coral had it all under control. She only needed to avoid them ever so slightly, and if she jumped from the shots and dodged them exaggeratedly, it would be more difficult to dodge a follow-up attack should she need to.

Coral hurled her first senbon towards the red head, who brushed it off with her semblance and rushed towards her. _As I suspected, she knows of my semblance as well._ The mechanical whirring of Pyrrha's weapon rang as it was transitioned into a double edged sword mid-run, Coral drawing Crocea Vita effortlessly in preparation. The elegant weapons clashed together, testing Coral of her swordplay. And while it wasn't close to being mastered, or as good as Jaune, she knew her blade and its limits. Crocea Vita was more agile than Miló which allowed for some compensation during their brief exchange. Still, Pyrrha was bound to be victorious should the battle continue down this road.

It was impossible to tell who moved first. Miló slashed, and just as swiftly Coral backpedaled, throwing out a barrage of needles. She had to change her tactics. A close range fight was never her style.

Coral barely managed to recover before the xiphos was slashing forward again, a deadly red and gold blur arcing towards her shoulder. She jerked aside. It clanged against the ground instead, and Coral delivered a strong kick to her greaves, Pyrrha keeping her balance with a use of her semblance.

The next strike she anticipated, but still barely managed to parry. _How was she so damn fast!?_ The shock jarred her arm and rattled her teeth. Coral leapt back, pulse drumming from all the adrenaline.

 _Too fast. She must be using her semblance to enhance her speed and strength, as all of her equipment is made of a metal._

Coral quickly tried to formulate a plan as Pyrrha eyed her, adopting a cautious stance. One cut was all she needed to win. Unfortunately that wasn't quite as easy as it might sound, Pyrrha clearly aware of the same. As Coral tried to think of a strategy, Pyrrha decided to attack head on once more. Akoú o flew straight for her neck.

She whirled on instinct, the razor sharp edge cleaving the air where she had been just an instant ago. Akoúo was already behind her, striking at her back.

Coral hadn't realized. She hadn't realized until now, just how strong Pyrrha was, how _overwhelming_ each strike was, how _easy_ Pyrrha made it look even as you rasped for breath and your muscles turned to water. The videos Coral watched of Pyrrha painted her as strong. But in person, one on one, she was practically impossible to beat.

Coral could _maybe_ take one blow before her aura would fall into the red. Others could probably take a few direct hits, but Coral could only dodge and parry. Blue eyes scanned for an opening in the attacking red head. She found none. The girl was completely covered from every angle.

And then… Pyrrha slipped. Just slightly, almost undetectably, and her heel skidded on the floor. It would have been undiscernible to most in the audience. But Coral noticed. She lunged on instinct, Crocea Vita extended as she drove for the recovering girl.

Time seemed to crawl as Coral espied a small grin developing on Pyrrha's face, and she realized what she had done. Pyrrha set a trap, a deliberate opening as bait… and she fell for it. She cursed herself for forgetting about her polarity, it was just so instinctual to attack it completely slipped her mind. Pyrrha regained her footing easily and pivoted in perfect balance, Miló threatening to finish her as Coral drew ever closer.

 _Damn it!_

Crocea Vita immediately struck the ground in a shower of sparks, hissing and sputtering like a metal serpent. Coral barely completed the maneuver before Pyrrha was upon her, Miló stabbing towards her shoulder.

Coral threw herself backwards, half a second too late as the tip of the weapon grazed her cheek. A trickle of blood ran down the side of her face. The back of her hand came up to wipe the crimson away, a smear of magenta streaked across the glove. She hissed, dancing backwards and batting the blade away. The gash stung, but it soon closed up and vanished thanks to her aura.

Coral's breath felt too heavy and her hair was dripping with sweat, there was no way she could keep up for much longer. It was a war of attrition, and she was going to lose.

Coral turned tail and ran, creating some distance between the two. She released a salvo of senbon. Pyrrha didn't even hesitate at the desperate attempt, semblance creating a sort of force field around her, and Akoúo flew towards her at incredible speeds.

A simple sidestep allowed her to dodge it easily, and she remained acutely aware of the potential backstab that was now probable. Miló was soon on her as well, and Crocea Vita came up to block the dust rounds.

Pyrrha lurched towards her again, tenacious and unerring. Coral threw herself clear, whirling midair to catch Akoúo rushing towards her back.

Panicked reflex was all that let her knock the blow away in time. Coral winced at the sharp sound assailing her ears as Crocea Vita sparked with Akoúo, and the shield floated back into Pyrrha's hand.

She couldn't do it. She couldn't fight Pyrrha and her semblance off long enough for anyone to wear out but her. And even if she could, that was _all_ she could hope to do. Nothing she could do would allow her to conquer her polarity.

The two of them dueled, blades clashing, the metal ringing like bells in her ears. Pyrrha drove her back, closer to the edge of the ring, away from any chance of fleeing. A strong thrust knocked her katana to the ground. Coral swiftly back flipped out of the subsequent slash, hastily feeling around for Crocea Vita. A few more senbon were thrown desperately, but Pyrrha continued to pressure her.

 _I-I can't lose!_

Coral couldn't lose. Pyrrha was stealing her twin brother away, and she _needed_ to prove that she was the only one for him. Or maybe it was just for some immediate gratification from beating that _girl._ Either way she had to win.

Her attraction to him hadn't lessened at all since it first arose. But, he never seemed to return any of the feelings. Was it because she was too subtle? Should she be more forward? Or was it because it was wrong, because it was against what was socially acceptable?

She had always remained adamant about it. She had never talked to him about it though, so as far as she knew, he wasn't aware. Ruby definitely wasn't either, in all her obliviousness and innocence. Yang might have, but she doubted it as it seemed like leverage or gossip by Yang's book. She did a good job concealing it, apparently, but it was just so pent up inside she felt like exploding sometimes.

And Pyrrha was the perfect outlet. Unfortunately, it was harder to vent physically to Pyrrha than she wished.

Coral ducked under a swing from Miló and slashed at Pyrrha's left cuisse. Pyrrha remained unshaken and the armor didn't even scratch. Pyrrha swung again, Coral barely able to fend the sword off.

And then it struck her. Maybe it was the sudden motivation to defeat Pyrrha or just some random realization, but she got it. It would be risky and it wasn't a guaranteed win, but it was her only chance at this point.

Pyrrha gasped in shock. Coral cringed as tip of Miló struck true, tearing through her cloak and gashing into her side. Blood spilled down her leg. Knives of pain stabbed into her side, but she ruthlessly pushed it aside.

Coral ran Crocea Vita across Pyrrha's bare shoulder, a shallow but long incision decorating her left shoulder. Coral's legs roared in agony as they gave way, Coral pushing her tired muscles to take a frozen Pyrrha down to the ground with her. They fell to the ground with a thud, Coral laying prostrate on the ground with Pyrrha next to her. Her katana clattered against the ground followed by Miló and Akoúo that drifted loose from Pyrrha's hands.

Coral suddenly felt very exhausted, the loss of blood and the impossibly hard fight completely wiping her out. Her eyes rolled around and caught sight of her scroll that had fallen out of her pocket. She sighed. Her aura was in the red, as expected. But it wasn't a wasted effort, as Pyrrha's had also fallen into the red. A draw, she supposed. It wasn't quite what she had hoped, but at least she hadn't lost.

Jaune could be proud of her for that, right?

* * *

Jaune winced as Miló grazed Coral's cheek, and had to resist the urge to go up to the stage on stop the fight. Maybe he was sort of overprotective, especially on something so miniscule, but after what happened during initiation, it was hard not to be. Sure, she'd ended up fine, but the sensation upon seeing her emerge from the forest still haunted his mind. He felt like his heart stopped at that moment when she was drenched in blood. Thank God it wasn't her blood, but at first glance he didn't even know that. To be honest, he didn't even know how she was injured, or how she got covered in red, other than they fought a freakin' Nevermore.

He wanted to ask, but he didn't for some reason. Maybe it was because he wanted to let them tell him of their own free will, or maybe it was a subconscious thing and he really didn't want to know all the gruesome details of how a Nevermore spewed blood all over her. Either way, taking down a Nevermore was seriously badass. And every time he thought about it, it tore him up that he wasn't there by his twin.

When he sat next to the white hospital bed in the infirmary and watched her sleep, he felt remorse and guilt. He _was_ the older brother, if only by twelve minutes, and it was his responsibility to take care of her. His parents never told him that, but he was sure they would have if they were still alive…

Yet it always seemed to be the other way around. _Coral_ would protect him. From bullies and now Grimm. She was just stronger. Even though it was his dream to become a Hunter, Coral ended up becoming a better one than he. Of course he didn't hold that against her; he had long gave in to his lack of innate skill. But he still wished he would be able to protect her for once.

Jaune's heart stopped once again as Coral fell on one knee and clutched her side, Miló flicking blood into the crowd. _What the fuck!_ Jaune's chair clattered back as he stood up frantically.

How could Coral _not_ dodge that? There were plenty of other exchanges where Jaune was sure Coral would lose, but somehow miraculously dodged. But this!? That strike was, like, so lazy in comparison. Even he could dodge that!

And then the light sound of tearing flesh rang and Jaune understood Coral's reasoning. However freakin' _stupid_ it was. God, she was so reckless. This _definitely_ required a lecture because there was no excuse this time. No life and death situation here.

Jaune would prefer she just lose than pull a stunt like that.

"What the fu-" Yang mirrored his own thoughts and her chair _flew_ backwards as she stood up.

"That's enough, this match is a draw. Team Coral, Team Rubine, come take your teammates to the infirmary. Everyone that is all for today, you are dismissed." Miss Goodwitch flashed the barrier out with a snap and tapped her tablet.

The three of them rushed onto the stage, jostling for position as if it were a race. Ruby was the first there, placing both hands on her wound that had already almost healed as if to stop the bleeding. The blood still stained her clothes though.

"Coral, are you alright?" Jaune asked, even if he already knew her answer. A small nod was all she returned, either because she didn't have the energy or she felt it was all that was needed. She was completely fine. Her aura was in the red, but that was nothing to worry about. She would be fine in a bit. Still, he was worried for her.

He had to resist the urge to start yelling at her for her rash move. She was clearly fine. Yang and Ruby had already settled down and Miss Goodwitch didn't show any sign of deep concern. And yet he couldn't stop agonizing over it.

His hands slipped under her and he carried her in a position that had grown to be quite commonplace, more than he would have liked. He could have let her walk, maybe with him supporting her, but he rather liked it this way and he didn't want Coral to strain herself any more than she already had. Jaune started stroking her hair subconsciously as he walked through the hall to the infirmary. Her hairband had fallen of somewhere, no doubt during the spar, and her lustrous blond hair reached half way to the floor.

The dried blood on her pants cracked in his left hand and the cloak frayed where she was cut. The wound had already closed up, but a splotch of blood still surrounded the site. Her chest rose with her steady breathing that felt soothing to him.

Jaune started to feel better with Coral in his arms, his own heart rate slowing to normal level and his hands grasping her less forcefully. It was because she was safe now, because he had control.

"I love you Jaune." The words were soft on her lips and her smile was passionate. It was sweet. It was times like these when he forgot all about the danger that could be around the next corner. And he loved her back. She was his twin sister and the person he relied on time and time again.

"I love you too sis."

And her smile got even wider.

* * *

 **And more fight scenes. I'm gonna try and write some original content stuff and stray from cannon stuff in the next couple of chapters so hopefully you guys'll like that.**

 **Also, I forgot to mention it last chapter, but if anyone is wondering, Team RPBN is pronounced "Rubine".**

 **And is Yang's last name supposed to be X or L? I used L if only because it fit, but on wiki and other stuff her name's not hyphenated so...**

 **Leave a review!**


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